Happy New Year! This is my first post of 2024 and naturally, it is a vegetable-heavy soup with a plant-based protein. I’m aware of how predictable this recipe is. Just call me “basic” and be done with it. But despite all evidence to the contrary, this Creamy Kale Lentil Soup is not part of a larger scheme to eat healthier. While it’s true this vibrant green pick-me-up delivers an entire head of kale and an entire bulb of fennel in a velvety smooth slurp-able format, it is also true that I made it because I was craving it.

It’s hard to get excited about a tomato in the dead of winter. Actual tomato season is still months away and most of what you find in grocery stores right now are light in flavor and mealy in texture. Not exactly the stuff of tomato dreams. But while it may not be the ideal time for something like my heirloom tomato pizza, it is prime time for this Confit Tomato Soup. When you lazily cook anything in a vat of olive oil it’s going to be good. The confit process concentrates the flavor of the tomatoes and brings out their sweetness while reducing their acidity. In other words, the confit method transforms lackluster winter tomatoes into flavor powerhouses.