That's what I'm craving?

I woke up yesterday morning craving pomegranate molasses. (I wish I was joking.)

The day before I had done a fast run (13 miles, each mile faster than the last) and a hard swim after, and what seemed silly to me was my craving. Right-o. (Feeling like I might get sick in the pool seemed, and you will agree, appropriate.) But it seemed ridiculous to not satisfy the yummy sweet craving.

I went online - to foodblogsearch.com - and found a lentil soup with roasted pumpkin. I had no roasted pumpkin and couldn't imagine where I'd buy such a thing when there are strawberry plants bursting from the ground. So I looked to my fridge and found a few sweet potatoes, a lone turnip, carrots, and a little bitty yukon gold. That's a pumpkin.

I'd just read an article on roasting sweet potatoes in Cooks Illustrated, so I gave it a whirl -- with all the veg, including two peppers. But first, the big heavy pot: I started by browning half a LA onion, then added 3 cloves minced garlic (one minute). Added 1t cumin, 1t coriander (ground, both) and 1/4t cayenne. One liter broth, 2 bouillon cubes, 1/2 cup (plus what was left in the bag) red lentils, and simmered it for 30 minutes.

The fancy magazine trick to roasting sweet potatoes is to place peeled 3/4 inch rounds (first toss with oil and salt) on a rimmed baking tray on tin foil (spray it) and cover tightly with another piece of foil. Place in cold oven, crank temp to 425, and keep them there 25 minutes. Uncover, jostle them, and cook another 15-20 minutes. Cut into smaller pieces (if you're me, with a chef knife on that baking tray) and add to lentils.

The recipe called for 1t molasses to top each serving of soup. It was divine. Far more than the sum of its parts, and did a bang-up job of emptying my veg drawer before I leave town.