Hi Heidi! It's my first time commenting but I've been following your site for so long... I've tried a bunch of your recipes and they never, never, disappoint. In regards to the red lentils soup, I would add a poached egg. With such a cold weather here in Holland, a bowl of soup is all I can ask for.

Best regards,
Joana

Heidi,
It is spring here in Melbourne but we have had a few weeks of cold southerly air right up from Antartica.
Soup still seems to be a good menu idea.
I loved the photo's especially now as they seem to reflect time on your hemisphere and ours also.
Your post alsoreminded me of our cat who would follow the sun around the house and would often be found leaning into a brick wall which retained the heat.
Here in Melbourne we are craving summer and warmth.
Our weather patterns are erratic, 16 degrees one day, 27 four days later!
Menu's in spring and Autumn are always flexible! Rissoto one day, salad the next!

Wow, that is some spider! The browny whitey one.
Is it big or tiny?

We're heading for winter. 0°C or below in the mornings and throughout the day during this week. Mittens and hats out of closet and no spiders in sight :). Good thing is that you can cook all that which takes forever, french stews, nice soups etc, and then dig in.

Heidi, lovely post that lentil soup looks amazing. And I am glad you are not into the spider smashing business, I get so upset when I think of garden orb weavers being killed, yeah I've walked through many a sticky web only to worry where the heck is the spider, but they are harmless and very very unlikely to bite you, they are scaredy cats! Take care, love your blog, Lise x

Heidi, this is perfect timing! :-) It's really really cold in Germany right now (almost down to 0°C at night) and I feel a cold coming my way ... so a big bowl of soup is what I need!
By the way, I tried your Black Bean Brownies and the Vegetarian Chili at the weekend and they both turned out AMAZING!! I even got all the meat-loving guys to dig into their chili and ask for seconds ... and I guess, I'll be cooking lots of black beans in the next weeks ;-) (you can't get them canned here so I have to buy dried ones)

There is an official "spider season" there? Yikes. I have self-diagnosed myself as suffering from arachnophobia, so I also would have high-tailed it back inside for lunch.

Soups with few ingredients are oftentimes the best tasting and most healthy - I'm sure this red lentil soup is no exception.

This looks delicious! Maybe it would be a little more flavorful with a dash of curry powder, particularly for those using water? It reminds me of watery, less spicy daals my mom would give us when we were sick in childhood.

Thanks for the recipe!

You know, today is my last day off before starting a new job and...I think I may just make this for lunch!

I always have the worst luck walking into spider webs!

The lentil soup looks delicious! With the weather getting cold, I think I may give this a try!

mmm, delicious and soothing. Just what you need now the cold snap's started. And made from store cupboard ingredients too - you should submit it to this month's 'No croutons required' (by the 20th).
http://www.tinnedtomatoes.com/2009/10/no-croutons-required-store-cupboard.html

As always, I can't wait to try this soup. I do hope you're able to avoid the rest of this fall's spider webs. I know how that can be, with all those invisible strings in your eyelashes and hair. Not the most pleasant.

I have yet to make soup with lentils - that looks great! Thanks for another wonderful recipe!

Orb weaver spider! They're harmless so long as you're not a bug and weave big beautiful webs (sometimes eating their web every night and building a new one for the next day), but yeah, walking into any spider web is creepy. We had a big Cat-Faced Orb weaver Spider living in the backyard this Fall- that may well be what you have. Alas, she died with the first snow- I used to go out in the wee hours of the night and watch her work on her web.

I believe Charlotte's Web was inspired by watching an Orb weaver work.

The lentil soup sounds fantastic for these colder days, and I think I have everything on hand to make it. I'll definently give it a try!

Hey, not everybody gets such big, beautiful spider webs in their backyard.

And that red lentil soup looks like another good one to add to my collection (of red lentil soups).

My husband also is squimish around spiders, so he hollers at me to wrangle and release them. I holler at him to wrangle any Texas-sized cockroaches that I cross ...yuk.

But really this isn't an appetite-inspiring topic, bugs I mean. I will make the Red Lentil Soup when lovebug season is over...two things to look forward to!

PS. Thanks to you I am topping everything with sliced almonds and crumbled feta. Brilliant! (I wonder how it'd taste on this oatmeal?)

I love how delicious and simple this recipe is. The prose surrounding it is also gorgeous.

Your spider is a garden spider--one of the orb weavers that spin enormous webs like the ones you've been seeing. They are totally harmless and will take care of multitudes and insects around your property.

Also, the soup looks delicious.

Oh dear, I'm having the same spider here too! Wednesday evening I went out to walk the dog. Within 30 mintues this huge spider set up housekeeping across the entryway of our front porch. The husband is out of town until Sunday, so out squatter is safe for awhile. He's far too big for me to comfortably kill!

I made red lentil soup for the first time two weeks ago. I enjoyed it so much!

Heidi,
All of these beautiful soups are exactly what I'm craving. I'm in New York and the temperature has dropped, the rain is falling and now that its the weekend, I can't wait to make some of these recipes you've been posting recently. You take such good care of us, your devoted readers.
Thank you so much.

Heidi,
The spider pictures give me the creeps! haha! The soup looks delicious though, and I happen to have a canister full of lentils just waiting for a delicious recipe like this. I know what I'll be making this weekend.

I hate spiders too! I always fret about spiders when I go walking in the woods...

But the red lentil soup is definitely a Fall must :)

Oh you make me laugh. I was just thinking I should post a word about the spiders and webs today too as I gazed outside my rain drenched window. A stay at home day, I was sipping coffee and contemplating my one day off work when I re focused my gaze outside and saw this HUGE spider. I thot...hmmmm.....Glad I didn't step outside.

I love your soup...make something so similar and it is the time of year for warm simplicity!

I make a very similar dish about once a week in the winter. It's so easy and it really hits the spot!

Love this recipe Heidi! So simple, so delicious! I can't wait to try it! This is such a perfect season for soups!

Spider season here in the mountains of central Idaho. I keep finding the fast black jumpers in the house. I have a fondness for the stripy one in your picture. I call em cat spiders. For some reason these ones fascinate me, maybe their size!

I love your website and have referred many friends here. I'm never disappointed with the recipes. Thank you for your efforts, your beautiful photos and writing.

I made my first red lentil soup on Monday and was shocked to see my beans turn into a mush. Then I learned why. Still good though, and now I have a go to bean for a quick soup I want to puree. I like the spider.

Ah yes...when it started raining a few days ago, my girlfriend was like "oh god, here come the spiders...". We feel your pain!

Hi Heidi,
My comment is about spiders. The beautiful one you have pictured is a wonderful garden spider that helps to keep down pests. That said, I have these spiders in my yard and one day I went outside to find a large, well made web draped from my favorite outdoor chair to the fence, with a spider perched upon it. I complimented the spider on the beauty and workmanship of the web, but explained that it was in a bad spot because it had been built where I liked to sit.
The next day when I went out side, all traces of the web were gone and never rebuilt. Talking with spiders has been the most effective way for me to control their populations in my house & garden.

Aside from the spider, this looks delicious! I'll have to persuade my roommate that lentil soup is what the body needs for serious house cleaning tonight!

I CANNOT WAIT to make this soup. We have a jar full of red lentils on the shelf begging for something like this. The initial plan was to use them for Daal, but I think we'll try this delicious sounding treat! Thanks!!

Well I for one love the spider and web photos... I am a huge fan of spiders and all of the bugs they eat! Thanks for sharing those. And then, the soup... it sounds fantastic. Thank you!
-Michaela

Hi Heidi,

I love lentils and this soup sounds wonderful! As for the spider, I have to admit we have a little one on our back porch that has become a pet. We moved his web when it was too close to our swing but now "Monty," as we call him, has created a home in one corner. Well, thanks for the great Fall soup idea. I will add a few sweet baby carrots.

I make a red lentil and brown rice soup with coconut milk and rasam masala spices:
toasted then freshly ground coriander, cumin, and black mustard seeds, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Plus some freshly grated ginger.

Topped with some yogurt, chopped cashews and grated coconut.

Comfort food with just a little kick!

Mmmm lentils! Having recently won my husband over with them, I'm excited to try adding rice. Sounds simple but delicious!

BTW, Kansas spiders like to live inside the house, too, which makes lunchtime tricky no matter where you go. Fall is always fun.

Thanks, Heidi. This sounds like a wonderful and easy soup recipe. I have been collecting soup recipes this week in preparation for the cooler months so your timing is just perfect!

I just made a lentil soup last night, and a splash of balsamic vinegar or lemon juice at the last minute gives it a wonderful refreshing flavor. I was surprised at how "meaty" the lentil/barley mixture tasted, especially with some stewed tomatoes added. I'll be trying the red lentils next!

i didn't know there was a spiderweb season -- i'd probably travel a lot during that time of year! ;)

i'm housesitting for some friends for the next week and although their house (and dogs) is lovely and comfortable, their kitchen is aweful! so a nice simple recipe like this will work fantastically! thanks!

Hi Heidi,

Do you think this would work well with barley? I have a feeling it would need to cook longer, and I'm wondering if I will end up overcooking everything else. Thanks!

HS: I might try a pearled barley first, and then try whole barley next if the pearled barley version was promising.

What a pleasant notion - being able to follow the sun around your apartment all day, and enjoy a bowl of soup in your backyard, spiders or not. I need to figure out a way to do that, instead of sitting at a cubicle five days a week. Beautiful soup, and I too think avocado would be great with it.

Hi Heidi,

Thanks for the recipe! I plan to make this for lunch. I'm sure it will be delicious!

And, I just bought your book. It is wonderful! Both beautiful and inspiring.

Hi Heidi,
I made a similar soup yesterday.I had oral surgery earlier this week and I was still feeling yucky. My beloved husband, he's American husband, I am Lebanese made me his comfort soups and I was craving my comfort food. I gathered some energy and made a lentil soup like my mother used to make when we got sick as children. It is very much like your soup except that we use whole lentil, we run it through a hand mill then we add the rice to it. the spices that we use are cumin, allspice, cinnamon and black pepper , very traditionla in our cuisine. We serve the soup with toasted or fried pita chips and a squeeze of lemon juice.....That soup made me feel much better and took me back to my childhood..........Thank you for sharing...

Heidi,
Beautiful pictures! I love watching the spiders making the webs through the window out our back door, especially in the porch light... but I've definitely been trained to double check before walking outside. We have those same large spiders in Maryland; do you know what they are? Anyway, it is also soup weather here and I happen to have plenty of red lentils, so look forward to trying the soup!

Following the sun through the house. This is interesting to me because I just did some research on Sue Miller, the author, as I was presenting one of her books at book club and she said the same thing....that she follows the sun through the house as she writes (longhand). Are you a fan of hers? Good recipes, Heidi!

HS: Thanks for the recommendation Sally, I'm always looking for new (to me) authors.

Yikes about the spiders. We have spiders a great deal here in Texas. It surprises me that I've started to tolerate them, but when we first moved into our house, which was vacant for about a month before our move-in, there were these gigantic non-web-making spiders that were brown and hairy and would run (yes, RUN) across the floor if you opened the door at night and they were near. I suppose they desensitized me over time. (just so you know, they must have decided that we weren't leaving, because they no longer invade our house.) this soup looks lovely.

LOVE your recipes, Heidi! Any recommendations for a good-tasting broth available in stores? (Whole Foods, etc?) I live in San Diego and we don't have many specialty/gourmet/natural food stores apart from WFs. Thanks, and keep up the wonderful creations!!

HS: There are a few, but I tend to use Rapunzel brand, the herb/sea salt cubes. But I don't do the 1 cube to 2 cups water the recommend. I typically do 1 cube to 4-5 cups water, so it is more lightly flavored, less salty. And then season myself from there.

Hi. Great site. I would really like to do a piece on my blog about your Roasted Corn Pudding in Acorn Squash. I made it for my family this weekend and it was a huge success. I'd like your permission to link to your entry and then post my results. I hope you agree. -- Thanks. Jean

I loooooove any type of lentil soup... Thanks so much for posting this as I've been drinking Egyptian lentil soup for too long - its DELICIOUS but I need a change...

As for the spiders, they terrify me too, but I can't bring myself to kill them - they are artists after all :) A friend of mine has this nifty little vacuum gadget which sucks them up and then you can safely release them into the "wild" or basically away from your lunch eating corner :) I've got to get me one of those :)

This is wonderful ^^ I love lentils and am a vegetarian. With my busy college schedule I like to find simple nice recipes since I cook everything and time is of the essence. Stumbled upon your site and looks great. Take care and goodluck with the spiders -shudders-.

garden spiders? I rejoice at their presence for they take care of the pests on my kale . mmmm simple lentil soup is just what I need, thanks for the great ideas!

This may be an old wives tale (from an old wife!) but I've been told that, to keep spiders away, collect some conkers, split the sweet kernel open and put one in each corner of you room. Guaranteed to work - maybe! Right, I'm off to prepare the lentil soup. Just beginning to recover from flu and your soup sounds just what I need!

Little Miss Heidi sat on her tushy eating her lentils and rice. Along came a spider and sat down beside her and scared Miss Heidi away... :) Not perfect but I couldn't resist.

Heidi, you even managed to make that spider look beautiful. We have the same golden McNasty living on our porch (on Vancouver Island). AND I woke up this morning with a giant spider bite on my ankle... our bedroom window is off the porch... shudder.
I adore lentil soup, never thought to put rice in it. It looks delicious. Just the thing for this drearblustery greydrenched day by the ocean. It will be great with some hot rosemary-aged chedder-pepper scones. hmm.
I tried your garlic scape soup, btw, on your recommendation, and got your amAZing book. The soup was SO tasty, tho the texture I ended up with was quite viscous, like raw egg. Was that right? I've never cooked with scapes before other than to grill them.

Ah! The cat-faced garden orb. I love those spiders! Alarmingly large, yes, but harmless and fascinating to watch. I wish we had more of those and less black widows!

I just love to try out lentil soup recipes! This one looks delicious. I'm a sucker for any recipe containing red lentils, they are my favorite lentil!

I'm not big into adding salt at the end of cooking a dish, unless my previous efforts haven't made the dish tasty enough. Why do you not add salt earlier when you're caramelizing the onions/shallots/etc.?
Re the spiders, I live in Berkeley and every time I go out in the yard to exchange my baked goods for my neighbor's chickens' freshly laid eggs, apples right off the tree, or herbs from her garden, I have to wave something around in front of me to break the webs that have formed overnight. I guess it's a small price to pay to live amidst lush greenery. Having grown up in NYC, I much prefer this to chasing cockroaches when you turn on a light at night.

HS: HI Lisa, if I know I'm going to be cooking beans or pulses, I typically wait to salt until close to the end, so the beans don't seize up. It's tricky though, for example if you are using a salty stock...

This recipe is perfect timing! My veg brother is on a low iodine diet for thyroid cancer, so I'm going to be trying many of your vegan recipes while cooking for him and his wife. No dairy, cheese, soy or iodized salt. It's only for six weeks thank goodness - I cannot imagine a life without those staples!

I used to freak about those spiders too, the big gold ones, but then I read about them. They are orb spiders, and make the nicest most symmetrical webs. Charlotte in Charlotte's Web would have been an orb spiders. So now when I see one I call it Charlotte and they are less scary and are allowed to remain in the garden. But if it's a black window, I call it Scylla and run away :-)

Heidi,
Hi, I live on the Central Coast of California. Every October we get the same exact spiders as you show in your photo. It's funny my sister & I were just talking about them & here you are writing about them as well. I always get freaked running into the webs too since they seem to be all over our yard, it's not the kind of spider I want crawling on me. It's strange that that same spider appears year after year at the same time during the month of October. The spooky Halloween month.

Spider webs freak me out too every time!

In my garage every morning it seems there is another one that was made overnight, and just getting into my car I have to use a stick to whack it away.

Same thing on my bicycle in the garage if I ride my bike to work.... yuck!

Oh those Orb Spinners. I'm in Berkeley and we're infested with them this time of year too. They spin those giant webs overnight, and they span a great distance. I won't walk to my tomato patch anymore without waving a badminton racket in front of me the whole way. I do smash them, sometimes, because I don't want more next year! I have walked into webs in the past and have looked down to see one of them on my person somewhere and it just freaks me out!

Heidi, your recipes and your PHOTOS are wonderful! Would you mind sharing with me what kind of camera you use to take your photographs? Thank you so much.

HS: Hi Iris, thank you. I wrote a little bit about photography, and the camera(s) I like here.

Hi Heidi!
I just got a message in my inbox with this post and I had just decided moments before to make red lentil soup for dinner tonight. I'm going to make a savoury zucchini and goat cheese cake to go with it as I got a huge zucchini from a friends garden yesterday. I'll have to try your soup recipe instead of making my same old red lentil and tomato soup.
Mille mercis!

hi!

this sounded so good, i went out and bought all the ingredients. i was already chopping the onions when i realized i was out of chili flakes :( it's sooooo cold i didn't want to go out again so i've substituted some indian spices: crushed cumin & corriander seeds, bay leaves, and a pinch of garam masla (which has some chili powder in it)

hope it turns out ok!!!

I don't know if I want to make this soup because I can't get past the picture of the absolutely, disgustingly terrifying bulbous bodied spider! AHHHHH!!!! Seriously, I couldn't even write out that description without shivering. Terrifying.

This is similar to a recipe I make, except mine has a tex-mex flavor. I'm curious to try this version. Here's my version:

3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Large onion, chopped
2 Cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 Teaspoon ground cumin
¼ Teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
¼ Teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch of chili powder or cayenne pepper, more to taste
1 Quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 Cup red lentils
1 Large carrot, peeled and diced
Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.
2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes longer.
3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary.
4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.
5. Reheat soup if necessary and garnish with cilantro.

I'm heliotropic too! Love the sun and also your recipes, your photography and "conversational" prose - keep up the wonderful work.

Thanks for the tip about the lentils changing shape, as I've never tried to cook lentils, though I'vd bought them and, after about a couple of years in the pantry, decided they were too old and out they'd go (I've done this more than once!). I do, however, cook beans of many varieties; just never lentils. Maybe with your recipe as an inspiration, I'll finally buy some more and cook them (it's got to be the same day however, because if they go into the pantry...well, you know!).

My mom made us lentil soup all the time when we were kids and I didn't know it then, but it was when we were broke. My brother and I were sick of them and made a drawing with the leftover lentils on a plate and spelled out "NO MORE LENTILS." I've gotten over my fear of them today, but my mom never served them to us again.

Heidi,
When you say shallots do you mean the small onion-like root that the french call eschallot or the long tall white and green plant?
Love the soup recipes. It's getting cold here in Montreal and the soup takes the chill off. Keep them coming!

HS: Exactly Zoe! Eschallot.

That soup sounds easy enough for me to make in my spartan Brooklyn kitchen. I like the fact that I don't have to puree it, just add toppings. A creamy dollop of Greek yogurt seasoned with turmeric, paprika and a little cayenne? Cilantro? I will try it this winery weekend.

HS: Wish I was there to share a bowl with you Hadley! xo

Looks divine, as usual. I call every spider I see "gandmother spider", and this makes me genuinely appreciate them, somehow spiders always leave me alone, though sometimes they set up the 'central line' to a web right where I was going to sit. If you can envision how a spider can become an eight-spoked wheel of Buddhadharma: the Buddha's teachings that lead to liberation, then you might find your spiders all likewise transforming..they might not be where you want to go, having gone before you. Or something like that.

One of my favorite soups is very like yours--to the gently sweating onion you add whole cumin- about 2 T if you like it! Then to the finished soup add lemon juice, lots of it. it's absolutely addictive.

It's equally good with ground cumin, tasted and added later. And what about with a little yogurt with saffron threads? I think I first read about that reading your blog. mmmm.

I make a similar soup using sweet potatoes, red lentils, carrots, a little celery, onions...I mash everything once all the ingredients are soft, and then throw in some spinach. It's really yummy!

Well, this soup is a big hit in my house! Smelling the onions for so long, and then having the smell and warmth of soup emanating from our kitchen...

I threw in some more spices that we had laying around (pepper, paprika and some spice blend we'd made the other day with rosemary, long pepper, and cilantro seeds), and topped with olive oil and parm.

Absolutely fantastic!

love the soup and the spider!

Decent variation which has worked for me:

abandon red chilly flakes

replace with: two chopped tomatos (blanched and skinned), 3 green chillies (regular kinds), one good tsp grated ginger. When all the boiling and mushing is done, add the juice of a small lime (= 3 tsps, more if you like your soup tangy), but remember to add a pinch of sugar. It takes the edge out. Always. Top off with cilantro... these red lentils particularly respond to this!

Coincidentally I just made my own version of this soup last night, and posted about it today as well! It is yummy!

sorry for the double posting... I just saw a few other comments to respond to.

Mine is similar to Wendy's, and similar to Meera's addition of lime juice, except I use lemon. I will have to try the lime and cilantro combo next time!

Big spider season just ended in the DC area a few weeks ago and I was happy to see them leave.

I have a Red Lentil Soup recipe from Deborah Madison's cookbook that I like, but I've recently discovered the depth that shallots bring to any dish so I'm going to have to give this a try.

Love your blog and this really looks delicious!

Great spider photos!

Heidi, the spider is harmless--it's a female jewel spider, and my guess is that at night you have light somewhere near their webs (patio window, porch light?), which is what makes the spot so attractive to them. They start out small, like other spiders, but grow and grow until the fall. Just let it be; it will be gone by first frost.

HS: Yes Zoe, they seem to string their webs near the windows that are lit up at night :)

Hmm. Large autumn spinner spiders, lentils and garnishes for the soup. I cleaned out my kitchen window of the cobwebs and webs, and I have one persistent spider that spins a masterpiece each night. I guess they catch flies and moths, and dine on them for their fertility rites or last feasts. I feel kind of guilty brushing away the corner architecture when I see it. What a lot of work. These webs go really well with Halloween. Thanks Heidi for another simple, nutritious supper idea. You're a gem.

Heidi, thanks for this lovely, mellow recipe. I am always looking for another way to utilize my favorite oil-cured olives. This looks divine!

Yum. This reminds me of the mujadarah that I often make. The differences, I guess, are that 1) I've made it with regular brown lentils 2) You just cook the lentils and rice together with enough liquid to absorb, not making it soupy and you caramelize/almost-burn sliced onions in a separate pan. Once the rice and lentils are done, you mix a portion of the onions in and then you top with more of the onions and some plain yogurt or sour cream. Also you season with salt and pepper. It's so simple and wholesome. It's one of my favorites. I'll look forward to trying this one, too.

A comment from an Ethiopian friend of mine who cooks red lentils regularly: they take longer to cook if you add the salt early. She recommends putting salt only at the end. She makes a red lentil stew by sauteing onions, garlic and a red chili spice similar to cayenne pepper, fries the lentils in the mix for a minute or two, adds water, and simmers until tender. At the end, she adds a little tomato sauce and salt, and it is unbelievably good.

Have you tried Turkish Ezo Gelin soup? Very similar to your recipe, but with bulgar instead of brown rice, and with a bit of tomato paste, dried mint and red pepper flakes. It's a classic Turkish dish. Ayla Algar has a tasty version in Classical Turkish Cooking. Made it today when I woke up to snow...

HS: Sounds absolutely delicious.

Tis the season for creepies and crawlies, aint it? But you have to learn to love those crazy webweavers for the Green Insect control they do. I really wish folks would learn to appreciate and not fear garden spiders and pollinating bees. We really really REALLY need these creatures to have a healthy eco system to support the production of all those delicious Organic fruits and vegetables we all crave in Heidi's recipes!!! FEAR NO (garden) SPIDEY!!!!!! And Love your Lentils as yourself!
(I paraphrase) :>)

Red lentils caught my eye in the bulk/bin aisle months ago and have been "waiting for a sign" to make them.

The weather has just turned cold and rainy here in Richmond, Va, dampening my small birthday plans for a morning 10K and lunch with friends. Now, I will have a wonderful soup to warm us all up with! Thank you Heidi!

Heidi,

Thanks for sharing your recent spider encounter. I've forgotten how spidery the bay area can get. Last year, when we were living in Marin, which felt like the spider capital of the world, my husband got into his car headed for work when a spider that looked similar to the one you photographed strew down towards his lap, and he responded by violently waving his arms in a circle to rid the spider. It was a freak out of sorts. The neighbor caught a glance, and quickly averted his gaze when my husband saw he was being watched. My husband rolled down the window to release the spider, and casually informed the neighbor, "Bad day in the stock market." LOL!

Thank you for sharing such a healthy and simple recipe. I'm always looking for new ways to incorporate lentils into my meals.

Best,

Christine

I follow your site and have made quite a few recipes from your site. This is the first time commenting on it.

Excellent recipe adding the brown rice. Definitely going to try it this weekend. I have never made lentil soup with brown rice added to it. I make lots of Indian spiced lentil recipes with all kinds of lentils.

I am impressed with your recipes - healthy, tasty and nutritious. I love pancakes and have made quite a few recipes from your blog and your cookbook.

Thanks
Sanjay

Hi Heidi,
You are looking so nice and your soup is also very nice.

thanks you.

Israt

The red lentil soup is one of the best comfort food I can think of! Not to share with spiders, though (but the one in the pic looks nice!)

If you worry about the loss of colour when red lentils are used in the soup, add a roasted red pepper before you puree it.

HS: Great idea.

Heidi,
Last night I made a variation of Anna Thomas's Squash and Red Lentil soup, which I was reminded of when I checked 101 Cookbooks this morning! So very delicious, and I'm sure yours is too!

Just wanted to let you know I got Anna Thomas's Love Soup because of your site. I am so in love it's not even funny! I live in Pennsylvania and it is definitely soup season! I have quite a collection of stand by soups, but I was looking for something new and substantial. I feel Anna's have the depth and breadth to really bring diversity to the art of soup as I had known it. Thank you for writing her up!

Also thanks for all the love you put into your site! I know that my family and I eat from your blog, or are inspired by it, on a weekly basis! It's so nice to have a simple approach, (that still tastes like a home cooked meal), to healthy vegetarian that is not simply stir fry or something that takes 3 or 4 hours to complete. I recommend your site to friends, and they are always pleased.

Thanks again for all you do, it is appreciated!

I made this soup last night and topped it with some sauteed honey mushrooms foraged from the woods near my house. Really great!

I love golden orb season! For us on the chilly East coast, it's usually August. We refer to ours as "the girls" & usually have about four big webs on our front porch each year, cleverly strung just outside the reach of our door and above our heads.

Can't wait to make some red lentil soup to battle this dismal fall weekend! I love your blog... :)

Heidi,

This looks yummy AND easy! My favorite kind of recipe. Any recommendation for a good pre-made veggie stock?

Thanks!
Steph

We have some big spiders lurking in our backyard. Bumping into the spider webs when I'm out doing the gardening creeps me out too! (gives me a shiver just thinking about it)

For a moment, I thought you might suggest a lentil recipe with spiders for some extra texture and protein? Now that's a horrifying thought ... lol

I love red lentils, and the feta combination sounds delicious. I think I'll add the avocado too!

Thanks,

Denise

I made this today for lunch and it was a hit with kid & adults. I used organic chicken stock because it is what I had... and toasted pine nuts instead of the almonds. It was a bit spicy because I used 1/2 tsp of dried chillis instead of pepper flakes but we loved it.
Wonderful combination of flavours and great texture. Thanks!

yum! i bet a t-spoon of cumin will do some good to it also :)
i love this soup and i usually make it this way but with some celery and cumin... YUM!
thanks for reminding me!

I'm cooking in a temporary kitchen on a one burner campstove while my kitchen undergoes major reconstruction. This soup is just the thing to get me through the weekend.
Yum.

Thanks Heidi, I just made the soup last night and I loved it!! I did have 2 small kipfler potatoes i had to use up so I added them in too, tastes fantastic.

Despite the heat and constant sunshine of Brisbane, Aust. I can still never go past a great soup.

I like the idea of the chopped black olives and almonds. Adding some ginger would also be good..

Years ago I read a research study in which spiders were observed spinning their webs and the webs photographed. Then some of the spiders were given some alcohol (arachnotinis?) and others were not. The next round of webs revealed the effects of inebriation on some and more symetrical webs from the others. Now, when I go out my front door in the morning the web atchitecture is always interesting. They seem more grounded in cold weather. Looking forward to making the soup when the cold weather comes back. Love your site, Heidi, your recipes and the spirit of the postings. Your trip to Paris really made me Happy!

Just an interesting note on the spiders. I heard just today that there is a VEGAN spider living in Mexico and Costa Rica. How amazing. It lives on the acacia plant, dodging ants as it eats the succulent tips of the plant. I bet they would love this soup!!

I just bought all the ingredients today and will be making this soup for dinner later this week - can't wait to try it. I love easy and healthy recipes! I just found your site a month or so ago and I love it. Thank you for the great recipes.

I don't normally like red lentils but something about this recipe made me want to try it. I think it was the raw cold weather and the possibility of warm, salty soup.

This was was fantastic. Just a tiny bit of heat from the pepper flakes and warmth from the salty broth. Whole Foods had an oil cured mix of green olives, black olives and feta. I put all in the soup as a garnish and it was fantastic.

I am no longer a red lentil hater. Thanks!