Lentil Soup with Curried Vegetables and Rice from Lighter, Quicker, Better: Cooking for the Way We E

Ingredients

• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ½ cup lowfat yogurt
• 1 cup cooked long- or short-grain brown rice (optional)
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 large carrot, diced (¼ inch)
• 1 red (bell) pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ¼-inch dice
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon curry powder, or more to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 6 cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick (2 inches)
• 1 small onion pierced with 2 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 garlic clove, bruised
• 1 leafy rib celery
• 1½ to 2 cups lowfat milk
• 1 pound brown lentils, rinsed and sorted