It’s time to ease up.
It’s time have a cup of tea. It’s time to play with the cat until he scratches you. It’s time to sit on the couch and stare at the wall a bit. It’s time to stand in the kitchen and eat Ritz crackers and chug orange juice.
It’s time to make a giant pot of soup… and sorta use a recipe… but not really use a recipe.
It’s just time to ease up just a bit….
Tomorrow we can finish shopping, plan big Christmas dinners, finish knitting mittens, and start wrapping presents. For now let’s just ease.
This Spicy Chicken Sausage and Lentil Soup is a hearty winter soup. It was made for your heart and for your soul. It is a healer of all things. But!
There’s all sorts of goodness you could make on your plan to ease up just a bit.
Take in the scenery. Take in the soup!
a. Bright orange Carrot Apple Ginger Soup. Sweet and spicy and so so healthy!
b. Kale and Sweet Potato Soup. You’re the picture of health. No biggie.
c. There’s Vegan Cream of Broccoli Soup, all creamed up with blended raw cashews.
d. Ok… I’m a soup fiend. Would you believe me if I told you that this Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup is the best soup I’ve ever made? It’s major. It’s bonkers. It’s veganly beefy.
e. Roasted Garlic Soup I want to bathe in. It feels like old romance.
Spicy Chicken Sausage and Lentil Soup
makes a big pot of soup. serves 8
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound spicy chicken sausage, uncased
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
3 celery stalks, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
2 cups uncooked French lentils, rinsed
8 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese, olive oil, and bread to serve
in a large saucepan over medium heat, warm olive oil. Add the uncased chicken sausage and cook, breaking up with a spatula as it cooks. Sausage should finish cooking in small chunks. Remove from the pan.
Add a touch more olive oil if necessary. Add onions, celery, and carrots. Cook until the onions are transluscent, about 5 to seven minutes. Stir occasionally. Add the garlic, cumin, and chili flakes, and cook for one minute more.
Add the sausage back to the pan. Stir to incorporate. Add the lentils and chicken stock. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup, uncovered, until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.
Serve soup with a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and good crusty bread. Soup will last, in an airtight container in the fridge, for up to 5 days. Soup also freezes well.
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i’ll take the whole pot please. k, thanks!
Your mushroom soup is amazing! I’m a big soup lover, too.
WOW this looks amaaaazing, especially since i’m freezing my butt off right now!! Job well done once again, Joy!
Yum. Yum. Just yum.
I like!!!! I am going to try it this weekend – feeling like comfort food! Talking about comfort food, I just posted a really warming (and healthy recipe) of corn/poblano soup!!! http://cuceesprouts.com/2011/12/creamy-poblano-chile-soup-with-corn-and-chanterelle-mushrooms/ Yumm!!!!
I’m glad you reminded me about that vegan mushroom soup! Gonna have to finally give that one a whirl!
love your writing, it always makes me smile.
Someone has a thing for drizzeling oil. :)
I personally love lentil soup with some fresh bread. I don’t know a more humble and satisfying meal.
guilty.
Mmmm, lentil soup! So warming, so filling, so comforting! Looks perfect for these chilly days. And I totally agree with you– it’s time to RELAX before the holiday madness. Soup is the answer for all of life’s stressors!
you posted this on the perfect day. thanks for a reminder to be good to myself today. making soup was the best choice i made all day.
Everything looks delicious and healthy. I unfortunately have to get through exams before I can totally relax. These satisfying recipes can definitely get me there
Yes. I am totally feeling some warm healthy goodness right about now.
I love lentil soup and to take it from good to over the top delicious? I add a smoked turkey leg or thigh. It’s crazy good.
I am so with you on the soups! I can’t get enough of ‘em lately. That lentil soup sounds like such a comforting, filling, yum-tastic winter dish.
This looks delicious! I’m a HUGE fan of soups (especially this time of year) and lentils! Thanks for sharing and your pictures are beautiful!
Nothing better than warm soup on a cold winter’s night :)
This lentil soup looks like the perfect winter-time dinner. I trust all your recipes and will definitely be making this soon :)!
Dear Joy,
I just wanted to let you know that you’re a lifesaver. Your blog and recipes has gotten me through all my university exams and endless essays. When that work piles up on my desk and my brain turns into a complete mess of discourse analysis and queer theory there’s no better way to gain sanity than making pie. And stew. And cookies. Honestly, just reading about you making them spikes sanity-levels instantly.
Thank you thank you thank you for sharing your passion, it is so very inspiring.
Huge fan of lentil soup :) I will be making this for sure.. thanks for posting! Gorgeous pictures ;)
Perfect timing…my husband is home sick today, and I was just about to go to the grocery store to get some soup ingredients!
I believe this was inspired by someone famous for being Barefoot? Yes? My mother makes that version, but your recipe looks like much more my style. I have all the ingredients in my fridge as we speak and I’m ready to make this for dinner. It’s a soup night in Washington, D.C. Yes ma’am.
Love it. It’s definitely a soup day here. Snow and all. Happy eating.
Kacie
I like to sip soup because it forces me to slow down. This is the perfect reminder to put the to-do lists aside for a moment and enjoy the season. Loved the new podcast, too!
time to stand in the kitchen and eat the caramel corn hot right out of the pan… breath … then eat some more~
You made me feel all cozy inside. *where are my slippers?!?*
heart heart,
Kasey
Mmmmm! Definitely food to warm the soul.
Damn girl, you are a soup-makin’ machine! I’ve been on an express train to Christmasland lately… sometimes I need that reminder to relax a little and enjoy the holidays, rather than rush through them in pursuit of curling ribbon and stocking stuffers. Maybe I’ll go play with my sister’s cat until he scratches me.
I want to know what soup that feels like old romance tastes like! I love lentil soup.
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This came just in time! We’ve been making lentil soup sans recipe, every week, for months. And always with toasted crusty buttered bread too. Then last week something weird happened….I got tired of it. But adding chicken sausage? Well that’s a whole nother meal! (Yes, I said “nother”. Everyone says it but nobody ever writes it…what’s up with that?) I am totally trying this recipe.
oh my goodness, joy, you have the BEST soup recipes on your blog! that collage is so delicious, upon seeing it i wanted to make all of those recipes at once! your ginger and lentil soup recipe is a favorite – thanks for another yummy lentil recipe!
Yum! It looks very comforting. And I love the plate!
Thank you for this recipe, this is exactly the sort of soup I’ve been craving lately. I love the texture of lentils, and this looks good and hearty. I will try ASAP!
Your blog is great, I’m really enjoying it! Happy holidays!
Made this afternoon. Hubs gobbled down 3 bowls of it after a chilly day sailboat racing in Boston Harbor. As he slipped in to bed beside me, he exclaimed that it ws the best thing he had ever eaten, ;)
Yummy, we just had a very nice family dinner. My husband never likes bean soup and he went for seconds. My 4 and 6 year old kiddos devoured it. The french lentils maintained their texture nicely which was a plus. I served with popovers which worked well. Thanks for an easy healthy recipe that we will be sure to have often.
this looks awesome! making it tonight!
Joy,
Just made your soup (without the sausage) and it was so good! It was my first time making lentils, I think I am in love! Thank you so much for the great and goofy podcast and beautiful blog!
-Elexis
this looks so great!
I just made this soup with some spicy turkey sausage that we like, and it was so AMAZING! Seriously, this recipe is a new cold weather favorite. You’re a genius :)
Hi Joy and community! Relatively long-time reader and first time poster. I just made the lentil soup this past weekend with chorizo and very fresh produce. The chorizo also gives a great kick. Very, very good! Thank you for this awesome recipe. Please keep them coming.
I made this for dinner last night and it hits the spot!! I am going to make again 100%, though I love Leslie’s idea with the chorizo added in. This is now on my go to soup list for 2012. Thank you so much!
Substitution: any comments on substituting garam masala for cumin in this recipe. I like the earthiness, but I’m tired of cumin. (at least tired of the dominant taste of cumin) I haven’t made this yet.
My daughter steered to me to this recipe. She said I’d Love it! :-) I look forward to trying it – and your others!!
I’ve drank cup of teas. I’ve stared at the wall. I’ve eaten hot soups. I’ve talked with my friends. It’s perfect. I just miss snow.
Made this today. Yum! I went to Whole Foods and had the butchers mix up some fresh chorizo using turkey for me. No casing to deal with, great spices involved too. Can’t wait to try it with another fresh sausage from there!
Made this for dinner this week – it was delicious! Lentil soup is a winter staple in our household, but I was getting tired of the same old same old recipe. We loved the hint of cumin and red pepper flakes in your version, thanks for the great recipe! :)
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