Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 3 cups diced butternut squash(Note 1)
• 1 cup split red lentils
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk, plus more for serving, if desired
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro,chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Coat the bottom of a large pot with oil and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion. Sweat the onion for about 5 minutes, until it becomes soft and translucent.
2. Add the garlic, ginger, cumin and cinnamon. Sauté the mixture while stirring constantly for about 1 minute, until it becomes very fragrant.
3. Stir in the broth, butternut squash, and lentils. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower heat and allow the soup to simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, until the lentils and squash are very tender.
4. Remove the pot from heat. Either use an immersion blender or transfer the soup to a blender in batches, and blend until smooth. 
5. Return the soup to the pot if you used a blender. Stir in the coconut milk and season the soup with salt and pepper to taste (Note 2). Briefly reheat it if it cooled down too much.