In less than a week, I’m headed to Oaxaca (wuh-HA-kah). I have wanted to visit Oaxaca since I was about 17 years old, a city and region of southern Mexico famed for its crafts – pottery, weaving, and textiles, primarily – and its food. (Oaxaca is known affectionately as the Land of the Seven Moles for a reason.) And now, I have a reason to go – one of my closest friends is getting hitched to her Costa Rican sweetheart in the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, a cathedral built in the 16th century with a towering cactus garden on its grounds. And I’m a bridesmaid!

In addition to, you know, being in the wedding, I will also be completing a weaving and natural dyeing residency in Teotitlán del Valle, a small village famed for its long history of woven rugs. My instructor is Federico Chavez Sosa, a third-generation Zapotec weaving master who learned how to weave, spin, and card wool when he was eight years old from his grandfather. For those of you who are interested in the program, I signed up through Oaxaca Cultural Navigator, an incredible source of information and more in the region.

I have taken some weaving courses in the past when I lived in California years ago, but my skills are rusty at best. But I’m diving in, heart first. My fingers are ready for fibers, rough wool dyed the color of blood with precious cochineal. My skin is ready for the scalding desert sun. My tongue is ready for the song of chipotles, limes, chocolate and masa. And my deepest self is ready for the jolt of color – brilliant, unabashed, shameless color – that courses through everything.

Of course, if you’ve been to Oaxaca, I am all ears. Please leave your recommendations in the comments! And please follow along on Instagram at where I will be documenting my trip.

And now, for a most un-Mexican meal, but a colorful one that has become a regular feature in our home. Behold, this dreamy coconut red lentil soup.

This spring on the east coast has been stop and go, and soup season has been lingering much longer than usual. Not that frigid weather is the only proper time to eat soup – I’m a huge fan of enjoying a variety of soups year-round as an inexpensive and delicious way pack a punch of vegetable power into your meals. And this one, guys and gals, is a keeper. Bright red lentils and yellow split peas, blended with curry, ginger, and turmeric, stirs up the digestive fire and delivers a steady stream of energy throughout the day. Feel free to play up the spices to get the heat and flavor you want.

spiced coconut red lentil soup

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

1 cup yellow split peas
1 cup red lentils
7 cups homemade vegetable broth
1-2 carrots (depending on size), peeled if not organic, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger root
2 tablespoons curry powder or Thai red curry paste (Note: the latter might have fish sauce in it, if you’re vegetarian)
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee
2 shallots, minced
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14 oz. can whole-fat coconut milk
pinch of sea salt
fresh cilantro and Greek yogurt or sour cream, for serving

Rinse the lentils and split peas in several changes of water until it’s no longer murky. Put them in your biggest witchy pot, cover with the vegetable stock, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer, adding the carrot and half of the ginger, until the lentils and split peas are tender, about 30 minutes.

In a separate saucepan, melt the coconut oil or ghee over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ginger and raisins and cook 5 minutes more. Last, add the tomato paste and stir well into the shallots and ginger to make a paste. Add this mixture, along with the spices and coconut milk, to the lentils and split peas in the soup pot.

Let the soup simmer with the spices for another 30 minutes or more. Add more water if the soup get too thick for your liking (I like it). Add salt to taste. Serve with cilantro and yogurt on top.