A Recipe to Tickle the Taste Buds and Nourish the Soul

The day after the appearance of “Heaven in a Bowl” (by Jessica Strand, SoCal Style, Nov. 1), I gathered up the ingredients and made a big pot of Lentil Soup With Spinach and Cumin. Calling it a “magic potion” and “heaven in a bowl” are only slight overstatements.

By the time the vegetables were burbling in the half-pureed soup, both my husband and son were in the kitchen asking, “What smells so good?” The combined aromas of cumin, smoked ham hocks, garlic and the rest have more power, I think, than Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds--or even Liz herself a couple of years back.

So hats off to Strand for her recipe--and to the magazine for publishing it. No longer will I be entirely done in when my car is in the shop, prognosis unknown--and when my dishwasher is sounding suicidal. I’ll simply make up another pot of the perfect lentil soup, toast some crusty bread and let the crumbs fall where they may.

Patti D. Hall

Seal Beach