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.
Melissa
This soup is deelish and soup easy!! I halved it but still had plenty for lunch and dinner the next day and it tastes even better reheated:-) I have a new love for lentils..
Kaytie
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! :)
Susan
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!
Lucia
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.
shady gardener
My daughter steered to me to this recipe. She said I’d Love it! :-) I look forward to trying it – and your others!!
Angela harvell
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.
Alissa
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!