Simple Red Lentil Soup

I had a request to put up a recipe for a simple red lentil soup. Here's the one I like to make. You could also call it the "add-on soup" because basically once you puree this soup you have an awesome starting point that can feature virtually any vegetable you enjoy or happen to have on hand. As an example I photographed what I had for supper tonight. I just cubed a small potato and a 1/4 zucchini, pan-fried quickly - added a tablespoon of water, put a lid on it and it was steamed and ready in less than 10 minutes. I had already made the base lentil soup yesterday so it was more or less instant dinner. I also stirred in 2 tablespoons of hummus that my DD had just made and that was a really good idea. Extra garlicky goodness! I'll post her recipe later.Lentil soup deserves 5 stars for it's iron content alone. 100 gm of red lentils provides 60% of RDA.

Recipe
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
curry powder - 2-3 tsp.
chili powder - 2 tsp.
garlic/parsley powder - 2 tsp.
1 large potato, diced
4 cups water
1 tablespoon veggie broth powder
1 cup red lentils
1/3 cup short grain rice (I use sushi)
*1/2 cup plain soy milk*
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, garlic, carrots & spices in 1 tbsp. olive oil until softened. Add the potato, water, veggie broth, lentils and rice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer on medium heat until done. Check every 15 minutes to stir and add extra water if required.Takes about an hour or so. Take off heat, add about 1/2 cup plain soy milk, and then using immersion blender whirl until very smooth. Freezer friendly recipe.

*Soy milk is not critical -- I like it. You could also add 1/2 cup tomato soup if you like or just plain water. It all depends on if I feel the soup is too thick or not whether I add anything at all before blending.*