Winter warmer: spicy lentil and butternut soup

It can be hard work satisfying one's appetite in winter.  One seems to want bigger portions of everything and salads don't seem to cut it.  I find that pulses such as lentils really help to fill you up in the colder months.  Pulses are high in protein and fibre and, my favourite part... quite affordable.

This soup is warming in all kind of ways.  I love using whole cumin seeds- it just makes the spice a bit more noticeable.  It's a pretty simple all round soup, but it's a goodie. You have probably seen lots of versions of it so don't be too worried if you don't have one of the ingredients- this one is definitely not a science.