I’ve never been too much of a soup person. I have friends who get really excited at the prospect of having soup for lunch, and I’ve never understood their enthusiasm. Maybe it’s because when I was growing up, soup meant opening a can of flavored water with bits of vegetables and beans floating around it in. It never tasted very good and it never filled me up.

All that has changed with this spicy lentil soup. It’s filling and extremely flavorful, and when I know that I have it waiting for me for lunch, I count down the minutes until it’s time to eat. Have I become a soup person after all?