Spiced red lentil, tomato, and kale soup

One of the “fun” things about re-starting this blog has been attempting to take photos of food on grey, dreary days, armed with only a cell phone. To obtain any sort of reasonable lighting I’ve had to set the food on one of the cats’ scratching posts, next to a window, in the middle of the day…and try to hide the fact that the food is sitting on a scratching post next to a window. Taking photos at night wasn’t an option, either, which meant that the food was often left over from the day before, reheated, or not, before photographing.

The pictures for this post were taken using the new lights (“softboxes”) my son gifted me, which I have yet to learn how to use appropriately, but which at least allow me to take photos in locations other than on a cat’s scratching post. It hasn’t stopped the cats from being interested in the process, though!

Anyway, on to the recipe! Since January is national soup month, as well as winter (and cold and snowy where I come from), I recently decided to try this Spiced Red Lentil, Tomato, and Kale Soup from Oh She Glows. I’m a big fan of red lentils. They’re quick to cook, easier to digest than other lentils, and, like their brown and green cousins, are a good source of iron, protein, fiber, B vitamins, and magnesium. Combined with onion, garlic, tomatoes, and spices in this recipe, they become a rich, delicious, comforting soup with a stew-like consistency. Perfect for cold winter days.

When I made this soup I used the slightly altered version in The Oh She Glows Cookbook, decreasing the cumin to 1¼ teaspoons, using only ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (although I wouldn’t have minded more), and decreasing the kale to 2 cups. Whether using the book version or the web version, I’m sure the results will be tasty!