Armenian Lentil Soup

1 1/2 c  Dried lentils
    6 c  Stock or water
  1/2 c  Dried apricots; chopped
    1 c  Onion; chopped
    2 c  Eggplant; up to 3 c, peeled, cubed
1 1/2 c  Tomato; chopped
    1    Green pepper; chopped
  1/4 ts Cinnamon
  1/4 ts Ground allspice
  1/4 ts Cayenne or crushed red pepper
    1 tb Paprika
1 1/2 ts Salt
         Garnish:
    3 tb Flat leaf parsley; chopped
    1 tb Fresh mint; chopped

Cook lentils in a large soup or stock pot that has a cover. The 3 qt
pot I used was really too small for the finished product.

Rinse lentils and bring to a boil in stock.

Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Start preparing and
cooking the vegetables while this is simmering.

Add chopped apricots and simmer another 20 minutes.

Cook vegetables in a big frying pan that can be covered.

Saute onion in a bit of water or stock until translucent.

Add eggplant and about 4 tb water. Stir around and put cover on pan.
Cook on low temperature until almost tender.

Add tomato, green pepper, cinnamon, allspice, cayenne, paprika, and
salt. Stir.

Cook covered another 10 minutes or until tender.

Mix vegetables into lentils and simmer, covered about 15 minutes.

Serve with parsley and mint. I stirred them into each individual bowl
of soup so that I could store the unconsumed soup.