Mulligatawny?

Josh emailed me before the day was even halfway over: "I just want to crawl back under the blankets..perhaps with some soup." Given that we had several warm beautiful days in a row only to awaken to a day covered in snow, I knew exactly how he felt. So, I thought I'd make some soup for dinner to make the day just a bit nicer. Since I haven't made mulligatawny in just about forever (and it's one of my go-to recipes), I picked up the goods for that. And it really did start out as mulligatawny, but I'm not sure it ended up that way. Somehow, it grew to unnatural proportions, though it did maintain its deliciousness.
A Whole Lotta Soup
1 onion, chopped
1 sweet potato, diced
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp. flour
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. curry
1 tsp. fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
4 cups water
1/2 cup chutney
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup of red lentils, rinsed
2 cups seitan, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
2 large handfuls of spinach, torn into bite-sized pieces

In a large soup pot, saute onions in a small amount of coconut oil until they start to turn translucent. Add sweet potato, carrot, bell pepper, and celery and cook until veggies start to soften. Then add flour and all the spices, coating veggies. Cook two more minutes. Add water, chutney, tomato paste, and lentils. You may need to add a little extra water as lentils cook. When lentils are almost soft, add seitan and continue cooking until lentils are fully soft. Add coconut milk, lemon juice, and spinach. Stir, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving. It's particularly good garnished with cilantro.

Soundtrack: International Pop Overthrow by Material Issue