Lentil Soup with Too Much Fresh Ginger

This one scales well and freezes well too.  Feeds 20 hippies.

Prep time ~ 60 minutes; cooking time ~ 5 hours

• 2 lbs red lentils
• boiling water
• 2 tbsp canola oil
  
• 1 hot pepper, diced very small (optional)
  
• 1 lb. carrots, diced
  
• 5 ribs celery, sliced
  
• 4 medium onions, chopped
  
• too much fresh ginger (1/3 cup), sliced across the fibers, then diced into tiny squares
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp cumin
• 5 L veggie stock (cubes, powder, or containers all work)
  
• 15 cloves of garlic (more if you dare), peeled, ends trimmed, and chopped in half (the big cloves chopped in thirds)
  
• 6 bay leaves
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse the lentils in cold water then put them in a large metal bowl
2. Over-cover the lentils in boiling water, stir them, and let them sit for about 2 hours, topping up with boiling water as needed to keep them covered (they may swell to about triple their dry volume)
3. In a very large soup pot, heat the oil and sauté the pepper, carrots, celery, onions, and ginger on low heat until the onions are just starting to get translucent
   
4. Drain the lentils and rinse them
5. Add spices, lentils, stock, garlic, and bay leaves to the soup pot
   
6. Bring gently to a boil, cover, and let simmer for 2 hours (or more), stirring to keep the lentils from burning (on my stove, this means every 15 minutes or so)
   
7. Add salt; how much will depend on how salty the stock is
8. Serve with sourdough