I made an awesome soup yesterday. The lime and ginger seem to complement each other and the spinach. The lentils had a creamy texture. It's a Madhur Jaffrey recipe, with a few "improvements": red lentils for the normal green-brown ones. Lime in place of lemon. I added the coriander and cumin too, because the original recipe didn't have any spices in it. A pinch of a few other spices wouldn't hurt it, but why gild the lily? This is one of the best tasting things I've made in a long while.

It's vegetarian (vegan actually) if you lean that way.

Spinach-Lime-Cilantro-Ginger-Red Lentil Soup

1 cup red lentils.
3 cups water
1 lb. chopped fresh spinach
1 t. fresh grated ginger
1 small green hot pepper, diced
1/2 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
Juice of one half a lime
Canola oil

salt / black pepper

Boil the lentils for an hour in the water and spices (coriander / cumin).

Heat a few T's of oil in a large frying pan and add the ginger and hot pepper, then the spinach and cilantro. Cook until these are wilted. After the lentils have cooked for an hour, add the spinach mixture and lime juice to the lentil pot and simmer for 20 minutes. Season with black pepper to taste. Makes about 4 servings.