Lentil Soup

warm winter food

I attended my first “Galentines” party this year. That’s a party for you and your lady friends around Valentine’s day. Basically, an excuse to hang out with no children or spouse, eat delicious food and enjoy female friendships. It was so nice. My dear friend Jeannette hosted the party at her home, and along with lots of other tasty treats, she had a big crockpot of lentil soup to share. It had been a few years since I had a bowl of homemade lentil soup, it was delicious, warm and slightly tangy from the tomatoes, salty from the added bacon. Eating it triggered memories of Ina Garten’s “The Barefoot Contessa” cookbook lentil soup recipe I made on repeat while living in Los Angeles. Ina’s recipe was my introduction to lentils and I’ve loved them ever since.

Lou loves eating lentils, but alas, they are not kind to him while moving thru his digestive track. I learned this when I made the delicious lentil soup recipe for him. Watching him double over with cramping tummy pain…well, the lentil soup recipe was put on the shelf (for years!) until last week. Lou is in Australia being a rocker on tour, so I realized this was a perfect opportunity for me to make myself a big pot of cozy lentil soup. And I did! oh joy:)

Instead of pulling out my beloved Barefoot Contessa cookbook for the recipe, I decided to challenge myself to make up my own. I have no shame in saying it turned out amazing! Delicious! Insanely good! I feel proud of myself that as a 46 year old woman, I’ve figured out how to make a great soup. I got a late start with cooking, like really knowing how to make food for myself and others until I was in my late 20’s early 30’s?? It has taken me over a decade to feel comfortable making things up as I go. But boy is that freeing when it actually happens.

Without further ado, here is what I made…