Lentil Stew with Sausage (and a vegetarian adaptation)

[princessofgeeks]

You guys, I was so proud of this, because I pretty much created this myself after reading a couple of online recipes about what to do with all these leftover cooked lentils I had in the freezer.



You have to understand that my sister is a trained chef who used to run a restaurant and also own a catering business, so any time I do something independent regarding food I'm all "WOW I DID THIS HEY SIS DID I DO GOOD OR WHAT LOL." The first time I made pie crust from scratch, all by myself, I cried.

Perhaps I have issues.

Anyway. The recipe.

1 pound bulk sausage (I used Jimmy Dean Regular flavor)
1 onion, chopped
2 large carrots, scrubbed and sliced into thin circles
3-4 cups cooked lentils
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
dash red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 teaspon thyme
1/2 teaspon celery seed
1/2 cup chicken broth (or more if you like more of a soup and less of stew or a chili)

Break up the bulk sausage into thumb sized chunks in the bottom a big pot. Saute it on medium to low heat along with onion. Add the spices to this. Also the carrots. After 10 or 15 minutes, dump in the lentils and the chicken broth. Simmer for half an hour.

(Afterward, the husband I commiserated that it would be good if you added about two cups diced sweet potato along with the carrots, and/or two or three ribs of celery, chopped.)

If you wanted to go vegetarian for this, you could omit the sausage and use vegetable broth. You would probably want to cut down on the salt and up the thyme a bit if you did this.

Hope you enjoy. Putting this together made me feel really creative.

Comments

[dorinda]

This sounds great! And I already have a lot of the ingredients on hand (which is not necessarily usual, for me), so it won't take much effort for me to pick up a few things at the shop and whip up a lovely stew. Thanks!

[princessofgeeks]

Hope you enjoy!

[wordweaverlynn]

You have an unusual name. Did you attend a Baptist college in the mid-1970s?

[dorinda]

No, I didn't--I went to a public university, and not till the late 80s. That's interesting, to hear of other Dorindas out there! :) (I mean, I know there are some, but as you say, they can be a bit few and far between...)

[weaverbird]

Mmmmmmmmmm delicious! Thanks for posting.

[princessofgeeks]

You are so welcome. The kids loved it; added bonus.

[waywren]

Hooray for your Making A Thing, and hooray for sharing so we can make it, too! This looks lovely, and I'm already making a shopping list.

[princessofgeeks]

Hope you enjoy!

[waywren]

Not only did I enjoy, I successfully adapted it to crock pot! It is EFFING DELICIOUS.

[lot]

Mmm sounds delicious! :)

[princessofgeeks]

It really was!