Coconut Lentil Soup

You know what you can count on, when you live in Ontario, like we do? Winter. Every year. Right after fall. And yet… Lordy, the crying and belly-aching over the snow and the cold. You would think that no one has ever seen snow before. And yes, I am one of the loudest criers (you can take the girl out of the West Coast but you can’t take the expectation of balmy temps out of the girl) of them all. Listen, we’ve got many weeks to go. How many more weeks when the groundhog sees or doesn’t see his shadow? Many. But that doesn’t mean we have to take it lying down in a snow drift. We can fight the power with soup!

This soup is my new obsession and the best defence I can come up with for winter ennui. Not only is it easy peasy to make – a bit of sauteeing, get everything in your pot and you’re done – but the smell is so heavenly and exotic, you might just trick yourself that it’s not winter inside your house even if it’s still winter outside. And the taste is insane. For a really simple soup it’s got great, complex flavours – sweet, tart and just a bit spicy. Even the soup doubters that make up my family had to agree: it’s the bomb. I have a giant bag of red lentils in my cupboard right now but I’m going to use it up before spring. Soup Power!

photos by Maya Visnyei