Lentil Soup makeover

I like lentil soup but I love good lentil soup.  The kind that not only warms you up and fills you with tons of vitamins, fiber, & protein but that which is so savory that it keeps you ladling for more.  I found a recipe in Martha Stewart's Everyday Food which really is a great magazine full of lots of suprisingly simple, quite light, wholesome & delicious recipes. But I found wanting more from their Caramelized Onion and Lentil Soup so below is my makeover and as Goldilocks would say:  It was jusssst right!  But feel free to give my makeover a makeover :)

Inspired by: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/caramelized-onion-and-lentil-soup - my opinion is that it didn't have enough veggies to make it more of a meal, not enough flavor, & not enough stock.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2 15 oz. cans of lentils rinsed & drained OR 2 cups of lentils cooked/soaked (dry lentils soften much quicker when cooked than dry beans so you can soak them a few hours or overnight)
1 medium-large yellow onion - thinly sliced or chopped
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1/2 a carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, cut lengthwise then diced
3-4 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
1 tsp curry powder ($1.99 a bottle at Trader Joe's or about as cheap at an Indian store - other grocery stores tend to overcharge for this)
Salt & pepper at hand


Directions:
1.  Heat olive oil in your soup pot.
2.  Add onions.  Cook on low to medium-low for 10-15 min. until they are as soft or caramelized as you like them.  Do NOT season yet.
3.  Add butter and garlic.  I found that this little bit of butter kept the garlic from burning.
4.  Turn up heat to medium and add celery and carrots.
5.  Now season with 1/2 tsp sea salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper or 2-3 turns freshly ground black pepper.
6.  Saute it all together 2-3 minutes.
7.  Add lentils and vegetable stock. Turn heat to medium-high.
8.  Add 1 tsp sea salt and black pepper to taste.
9.  Bring to a boil, add curry powder, reduce to a simmer, add thyme, and simmer 10 more minutes.


For extra decadence, ladle some into a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, & top with parmesan or your favorite cheese.