Vegetarian Mulligatawny Soup

Folks, I'm warning you now: we're going to go vegetarian as soon as we eat up all the meat in our freezer.  But probably only for a little while.  Unless we love it.  But we keep telling ourselves that we'll be social omnivores, too.  So, I guess we'll see how it goes and maybe it won't really affect the recipes on this blog at all.  Do I sound a little shaky on this resolve?

Anyway, to psych myself up a little, I borrowed 100 Best Vegetarian Recipes from our library.  I bookmarked a few recipes, but this is the first one I chose to make.  I'm a soup person (hello understatement!) and a curry person (you should be muttering, "duh!" under your breath); therefore, this soup is an obvious choice.

If you've never heard of Mulligatawny, it's often served in Indian restaurants.  Actually, this soup is similar to this one, but I find the Mulligatawny recipe more interesting.  And I even enjoyed the inclusion of apples (gasp!).  Of course, as with most vegetarian dishes, you could add meat to yours and it would be just as tasty.  I promise I won't judge.

Vegetarian Mulligatawny Soup
(adapted from 100 Best Vegetarian Recipes)
Printable Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 large tart apple (such as Granny Smith), chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth
2 cups water
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
dash red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, more to garnish

Directions
1)  In a large pot, melt the butter of margarine over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes.
2) Add the carrots, celery, and apples; cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes.
3) Stir in the curry powder and flour until absorbed.
4) Add the broth, water, coconut milk, and rice.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
5) Stir in the lemon juice, salt, and red pepper flakes; simmer 5 minutes. Optionally, for a thicker soup, puree the soup after cooking.
6) Stir in cilantro.  Sprinkle with additional cilantro before serving.  Enjoy!