lentil soup but make it actually taste of something

Right so I've done the pumpkin soup, I've done the butternut squash thing, but lentil soup kept putting me off because every time I've had it it's just… beige sadness in a bowl. Finally tried it properly though. Red lentils, one onion, two carrots, a tin of chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock cube, cumin and a bit of smoked paprika. Everything in one pot, about 25 minutes, done. Came to like 80p a portion which honestly I don't even know how that's legal. The cumin is the thing. Without it it's just sad mush. With it it actually tastes like food a human would choose to eat. I blended half of it and left the rest chunky because I didn't want to wash the whole blender — valid reason, I stand by it.