Yum, Yum, and Yum

I've been reading Heidi Swanson's lovely cooking blog, 101 Cookbooks, for at least a year now, and almost every time she posts, I think "Oh, that looks delicious. I'll have to make it sometime." Only then "sometime" turns into "when I'm less busy," which eventually turns into "never." Until now. Above is a picture of my version of the"Lively you up Lentil Soup" Heidi posted last week. I don't make soup at home as often as I'd like to, because I usually find that the soup I make at home just doesn't quite live up to my high hopes for it. It's always a little too bland or a little too thin or a little to thick. This soup, however, was absolutely fantastic. I made it with fire-roasted tomatoes, the pre-cooked lentils that Trader Joes sells in the refrigerated section near the lettuce, and some lovely, crinkly dark green dinosaur kale. I skipped the saffron yogurt, since I couldn't justify spending 8 bucks on saffron threads for a garnish. Instead, I served the soup with a swirl of un-doctored plain yogurt and a sprinkling of toasted whole cumin seeds. And, oh my. Best. Soup. Ever. (And the picture turned out pretty good too. This is progress. Usually my food pics turn out looking like something the cat dragged in.)