Simple Veggie Lentil Soup

Snow has been falling here all day. I’ve been looking at it out my window, admiring the slow, steady flakes as they blanket the ground.

Sometimes, I enjoy a day shut inside, cozying up behind my camera and simply letting the cool world around me do its thing from outside the glass. Just sometimes.

Most times, I’m dreaming of sun and palm trees and lakeside dives. But there is that seldom day, where the morning starts with a cup of hot coffee and a bright sky of snow reflecting back at me. The day where a mid-afternoon walk is followed by a lunchtime table of warm soup and bread that’s been toasted till butter can easily melt into all of its nooks. Sometimes snow can feel magical. Just sometimes.

So here we go, yet another soup recipe to hit the blog. If you haven’t guessed by now, that is how me and my kitchen cope with winter. With a hot bowl of soup in our hands. And with the soft winter light casting down onto the finished product, staring back at us through a camera lens. It’s the little things that keep me excited, and that’s why I have yet to jump ship from the East Coast.

There have been lots of little triumphs lately, here in cold Philadelphia. And I’m putting this beautiful soup onto the list. My new friend Jared helped me make it. It was his first attempt at soup-making. Simple and quick, it was a good recipe with which to begin.

Here, the veggies really take the spotlight, surpassing that of even the lentils. This is a lentil soup heavy on the mise en place. (I.e., the carrots, celery and onions. Tomatoes, too). Their flavors meld together with a boost of some dried herbs for light yet warming winter meal. Add some fresh scallions on top, and it almost feels like summer again. Just almost.