Vegan MoFo Day 2: Slow cooker Tuesday

On Tuesdays I always work from home, sometimes not finishing until 7.30 or 8 when I really don't have the time or the inclination to start cooking. This is where a slow cooker comes in handy - I can start the food off in any free moments during the day and then dinner will be waiting for me as soon as I finish work. It's almost (but not quite) like having someone else cooking your tea for you. I have a small 1.5 litre slowcooker which is described as a 2-person slow cooker but usually manages to produce up to 4 portions for me. 

For today's soup I decided to use one of the small munchkin pumpkins that are available at this time of year. I put it together with carrots and parsnip and as it was a cold grey rainy day I decided that some curry paste would liven things up. However the finished soup was almost a complete disaster as it was way too sweet for my taste and I had gone completely overboard with the curry paste. Fortunately I was able to more than redeem it at the end by adding 2 handfuls of red lentils and some more water which diluted the curry flavour, plus the juice of half a lemon which cut through the sweetness of the vegetables, turning it into a more of a lentil dal with the sweet flavours of the vegetables still discernable but more balanced. It was a really yummy soup which I ate with a mini naan bread.

Curried Carrot, Parsnip and Pumpkin Soup
1 medium onion, finely chopped 
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 parsnip, peeled and finely diced,
1 munchkin (or other small) pumpkin, peeled and chopped 
Curry paste or powder to taste (I used 2 dessertspoons of Korma Paste)
3 cups (600 mls) vegetable stock
1 cup (100 g) split red lentils
Crushed chillies to taste (optional) 
Juice of half a lemon

Saute the onion - I used a tablespoonful of stock for this but you could use sunflower oil - until soft and translucent. Add crushed garlic and spices and cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes. Add vegetables and vegetable stock, bring to the boil and transfer to slow cooker, adding 1 cup of split red lentils. Cook for 5-6 hours - my slow cooker has an Auto function which starts off on High setting and then automatically switches down to Low. When the vegetables are tender, add the lemon juice, blend with a hand blender until smooth, and serve.