Spiced Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup with Apples

I take a lot of photos on my phone. Right now there are roughly 4,375 images on it (no exaggeration), and until recently most of them felt too rough to share here. I finally did something I’ve been postponing for at least a year: I got my phone up to speed so I can use it more easily for posting and for keeping up with Instagram without hauling my regular camera around and then connecting it to my computer. It feels delightfully modern.

This post is partly a camera test and partly a note about a simple soup I made for one of our holiday meals. We ended up with three turkey dinners this weekend — a tryptophan triple header — and the soup was the dish I volunteered to bring to my mother’s house. I wanted something I could leave to cook slowly on the dining room table while the rest of the kitchen was in holiday use.

Our first dinner was at our place with friends who don’t have family nearby. I made the stuffing in an electric skillet and ran across the street to put the turkey into my sister’s oven. We ate on the couch because our dining room was temporarily a storage zone for a spare refrigerator and other odds and ends. The second dinner was at Mike’s cousin’s house, where they wrapped their bird in bacon and cooked it outdoors in an aluminum roasting pan. The third was at my mom’s, and for that one I made a warming sweet potato and lentil soup that cooked gently in the slow cooker.

I like soups that are both nourishing and uncomplicated, especially when they can be mostly left to simmer. For this batch I baked a couple of sweet potatoes alongside the turkey on Friday night, then kept them in the fridge until the next morning. In the pot they were peeled and added to the slow cooker with browned onions, garlic, red lentils, a good vegetable or chicken stock, and a few simple spices. The result was thick, cozy, and slightly sweet — exactly what you want after a long meal of roast turkey and side dishes.

The soup is similar to a carrot-lentil-sweet potato soup I’ve made for years, but this time I leaned into the sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes to enrich the flavor. I started by sautéing diced onion in a bit of olive oil until translucent, then added minced garlic and a pinch of cumin and smoked paprika to build a warm spice base. Red lentils went in next because they break down and thicken the soup without much effort. I poured in stock, added the cubed roasted sweet potato, and let everything simmer until the lentils were soft.

To finish, I blended part of the soup for a creamy texture while leaving some chunks for bite and interest. A splash of lemon juice at the end brightened the flavors, and a little salt and pepper brought everything into balance. Garnishes like chopped parsley or a drizzle of yogurt or olive oil work well if you want a touch of freshness or creaminess on top.

Making the soup in a slow cooker was intentional: it freed up oven and stove space during holiday cooking and warmed the house with a gentle, savory aroma. Leftovers reheated beautifully, and the flavors actually seemed to deepen after a day in the fridge. It’s a great make-ahead option for busy weekends or for feeding a small crowd when the main event is someone else’s turkey.

Overall, the weekend felt full and communal — the kind of weekend that leaves you both satisfied and slightly sleepy in the best possible way. The soup was simple comfort food that complemented the richer holiday dishes, and using my phone for pictures made capturing small moments easier. I plan to keep using the phone for quick shots and to post more often without the hassle of extra gear.