cold comfort food

Yup, it's cold. Time for soup!  

Lentil Soup with Veggies
3 cloves garlic

2 celery stalks

2 carrots

1 onion

1 can of tomatoes
2/3 cups lentils
1/3 cup elbow macaroni
6-8 cups soup stock
olive oil
2 bay leaves
salt, pepper & other spices!


*Usually I make this with only veggies, but since we're having an especially cold week (temperatures in the tens!), I decided to add some extra heartiness to my soup pot with a bit of pre-cooked Italian chicken sausage I found in my freezer. It was a good very idea.

It's the salt, pepper & spices stage!

Directions:
Start a soup pot on medium heat and cover the bottom with olive oil, about 2 tablespoons should do it. Add the carrots, celery, and onions-cook until they start to soften. Add the garlic and chicken sausage-cook until everything starts to turn golden brown, 8-10 minutes or so. Add the lentils and cook for another couple minutes.

This is a good time to add salt & pepper and any spices you might want to use. (Remember: sausage {as well as your canned tomatoes and soup stock} will bring its own salt to your pot, so take that into consideration before you break out the salt shaker!) I used dried basil and a general dried Italian spice mix.

Add the tomatoes (with juice), bay leaves, and soup stock. Bring to a boil. Once you're boiling, you can put a lid on it and leave it alone for 20 minutes or until the lentils begin to float to the top. This is your signal to add the macaroni. Cover again and cook for another 8 minutes, and then you're done!

I suggest enjoying your soup with a hunk of nice bread and a beer.

Don't mind if I do.