Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

Ever since I had my first bowl of lentil soup at Jerusalem Garden in Ann Arbor, I've been wanting to make it myself. After a lot of trial and error (producing still very edible soups, it's a forgiving recipe), I've come to something that, while not exactly the same as the Jerusalem Garden version, I'm quite happy with none the less.

20 minutes of preparation, 2 hours cooking

• 1 medium onion
  
• 1 quart of water
  
• 10 oz of red lentils (They look orange when raw and turn yellow when cooked. Go figure.)
  
• 1 bouillon tablet
  
• 1 lemon
• 1.5 teaspoons of cumin
  
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
  
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
  
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  
• fresh cilantro
  
• salt

1. Rinse the lentils well, until the water runs clear.
   
2. Chop the onion in small pieces and cook it in the bottom of a large pot with the olive oil and a bit of salt.
   
3. When the onion has browned a bit, add the water, lentils, and spices.
   
4. Let the soup simmer for about an hour, then dissolve the bouillon tablet in a bit of boiling water and add it to the soup.
   
5. Let the soup simmer some more, maybe about an hour, until the lentils break down and the soup gets a creamy texture.
   
6. Squeeze the lemon juice into the soup.
   
7. Taste the soup and adjust the level of salt and lemon juice to your tastes.
   
8. Serve and garnish with the chopped cilantro.

Super simple and really, really cheap. Feel free to add more spices, lemon zest, or bits of grilled pita. It's all excellent!