Sausage Lentil Stew

I've been digging on lentils a lot lately which I am personally scandalized by, since before surgery I frequently declared that they tasted like little pieces of dirt. Now? I like them. A lot. (Will wonders never cease?) I've discovered that lentils have good protein, good fiber, healthy carbs, and they work well for strong flavors, like onion and curry. Plus, the new stomach (pouch) seems to be on good terms with them.

This stew was inspired by Stephanie O'Dea's Crockpot 365 recipe. I created a recipe for the stove top that had loads of veggies in it and a nice full flavored sausage. I opted for andouille sausage - which admittedly has more fat than many chicken sausages that you could choose - but I love the spicy, garlicy flavor. If anything will keep lentils from tasting like the earth they grow out of, it's andouille. But, as my grand aunt would say, "If you don't have the andouille, then use a little hot Italian sausage, or if you don't have that, then a little sweet sausage, or whatever you have that's cheap at the market." Yeah, my Aunt Rose was a big one for freewheeling substitutions in her cooking and so am I. ;-)

I wanted to keep this stew from being too tough to digest, so I chose to puree half the veggies after they had softened from cooking, but it adds to the labor and you don't really need to do that. I also used frozen chopped kale since it was in the house and to be honest, I tend to prefer to stock my house with frozen veggies, since I can't always be arsed to cook the fresh veggies before they compost in the bottom of my fridge. What can I say? I live a real life and stuff happens.

Sausage Lentil Stew

2 T. Olive Oil, divided
1 lb. Andouille Sausage (or whatever you like)
1 C. Chopped Carrots
2 C. Chopped Onions
4-6 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
4 C. Chopped Frozen Kale, Thawed
32-40 oz. Fat Free, Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth (or veggie broth)
1 C. Lentils, rinsed and soaked 30 minutes
Salt and Pepper to taste

Slice sausage lengthwise in 4 pieces and then cross-wise into 1 cm pieces. In a large pan, lightly brown the sausage in 1 T. olive oil and remove from the pan and set aside in a bowl. Add 1 T. additional olive oil to the pan and cook the carrots, onions and garlic until soft. Add tomatoes with the juice, kale, and broth and bring to a simmer. Cook 15 minutes until the veggies are tender and remove half the veggies from the pan. Using an immersion blender, puree the other half the veggies right in the broth and return the pan to the stove. Return the remaining veggies to the pan with sausage and lentils. Cover and simmer until lentils are very tender (I prefer them almost mushy), 30-45 minutes. You may need to add a little extra broth or water as it cooks, depending on how much is absorbed by the lentils.

Including the olive oil, here are the nutrition stats (from the sparkrecipes.com calculator): Calories: 293, Total Fat 13.8 g, Cholestrol 33.3 mg, Sodium 1,118.8 mg, Total Carbohydrate 27.5 g, Fiber 9.2 g, Protein 17.9 g.