Back over the summer, I had big plans for posting about Thanksgiving foods. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and I was going to embrace it like never before. I was planning to ask a friend for her recipe for bourbon-chocolate-pecan pie, post my favorite stuffing recipe (with hot Italian sausage and maple syrup), and look into the supply chain of cranberries. Unfortunately, none of that happened. (Things like work, Covid-19, and the election got in the way.) But I’m back, planning to post more regularly again, and wanted to restart with a warm soup for the cold December evenings.

I don’t know when I first made this soup, but it puts all other lentil soups to shame. I once made it for my friend Drew, who liked it so much that years later he still mentions it when we talk. (He also went out and bought lentils to make the soup – pounds and pounds of lentils. Two years later the remains of these lentils had started to sprout…but we made the soup and it tasted just fine with sprouted lentils.) What I’m trying to say is that if you are looking for a cozy pandemic soup, this is it.