Lentil Soup

Doesn't win awards for prettiness, but hearty and fulfilling!

Simmered 1 cup of lentils with 3 cups of water until soft. In a skillet, sautee 1-2 medium onions in olive oil, then add 1 cup of white wine, and simmer that down till the alcohol is done evaporating. Then add 1 hearty cube of boullion (here, 1 cube means enough for ~1 liter), which provides more than enough salt for the whole soup. And add 2 cups of water, some fresh thyme, 2 cloves crushed garlic, and the lentils into the skillet, bringing to a simmer again. All of it into the blender, along with some chilli powder, and cumin (for a kind of turkish-soup flavor) and a few tablespoons of sour cream--pureed till a smoother texture, but I leave some mild chunkiness to it.
Despite being an awkwardly colored brown soup, I'd definitely serve it at a dinner party (garnished something like this of course to try to compensate for the chunky brownness)..
maybe I should also try it using red lentils sometime and see if that results in a 'prettier' soup :)