Photo: WhitneyinChicago, Flickr.
Red-lentil soup inspired my love of the brothy dish, both for its natural flavor and for its unparalleled comforting qualities -- in fact, so much so that my house has become known among friends as the "Soup Kitchen," and friends will randomly text while in the neighborhood to ask what's cooking.
I discovered red-lentil soup rather late in life, during my college years, at Sultan's Market, a small but fiercely beloved Mediterranean spot in Chicago's Wicker Park. Braving the bristly winter weather with a bowl of the soup to-go made my walk home doable, whatever obstacles the weather was throwing my way (and these usually included numbingly harsh winds).
And coming home to a spicy bowl of this stuff warmed was inevitably a body- and soul-warming experience. Although I'm fond of preserving the natural flavor of the red lentil by cooking it up in a soup with sparing ingredients (namely broth, garlic, onion and a touch of cumin), you can't go wrong with hardly any variety of the ultimate soothing concoction. Blogger Whitney in Chicago makes hers with red pepper flakes and chipotle, ups the heartiness factor with the addition of rice, and artfully tops it all off with slivered almond and zesty Feta. You should try her recipe -- I wholeheartedly back her in dubbing it a surefire "cure for darkness."
Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Whitney Houston Dead: Singer Dies at 48, Body Found in Beverly Hilton Hotel
Whitney Houston Autopsy: Cause of Death Determined?
Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina: Late Singer's Daughter Hospitalized
Whitney Houston Dead: Stars React to Legend's Sudden Death
Grammy Red Carpet 2012 (PHOTOS)
Grammy 2012 Winners' List: Adele Sweeps Music's Biggest Night
Jennifer Hudson Whitney Tribute: Grammy President Reveals Why Singer Was Chosen for Musical Memorial
Katy Perry Grammy Performance 2012: Did the Diva Diss Her Ex-Hubby With Revealing New Song?
5-Hour Energy: A Success Equal Parts Caffeine, Chemistry and Meditation
People With Easy-To-Pronounce Names More Likely To Succeed, Study Says








11-21-2009 @11:18PM Tracey C. (SugarPunk) said... Ohh, I love Sultan's and miss it so much! There's nothing to compare down in North Carolina, I guarantee you. (Although the winters are awfully nice)
Reply