Spicy Sausage, Two Ways: Part Two

As I discussed in Part One of this epic series on how I used a pound of ground sausage, this meal was part of an effort to eat our way through the rather large quantity of meat in our freezer after we combined kitchens.

For my second meal, I wanted to do something that would make an easy lunch.  Around the time I was contemplating what to do with the meat in the freezer, I found a recipe on Serious Eats for Lentil and Sausage Soup.  Since lentils are basically awesome in all forms, this seemed like a promising option.  Turns out I made a good call - the sausage and olive pasta was good, but this was the real winner.  This is officially my new favorite cold weather soup.  Again, I basically just followed the recipe, with these changes:

1. I used 1/2 lb sausage, and I did not form meatballs.  I just browned it in a ground state.

2. Added a clove of minced garlic.  Garlic is supposed to be healthy, but I just think most things taste better with garlic.

3. I added 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced - put this in when you add the lentils and broth. DO IT. This is half of the reason why I think the soup is so awesome.

4. Added 1/2 bag of baby spinach at the end and let it cook down, uncovered, for about 2 more minutes.

I had this for lunch with a big piece of toasted whole wheat and flax bread that smeared with a little butter and a lot of Dijon mustard. Fun discovery: warm, soft whole wheat bread with Dijon mustard kind of tastes like a hot pretzel with mustard!

Although clearly this recipe is not vegetarian, I hope some vegetarians out there have read this far, because I'm eager to see if this could be accomplished using Boca crumbles or TVP or something.  Ideally I will get around to trying this out, but if it doesn't happen and someone else does, please let me know how it goes!  I'm thinking that a basic soy ground sausage or beef would work, with some traditional spicy Italian sausage seasoning, like fennel and crushed red pepper.  This soup made me so ridiculously happy that I'd love for everyone to be able to enjoy it (and I'd like to be able to make a vegetarian version for myself as well).

Lentil, Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup
Adapted from Serious Eats

Makes 4 servings.

1/2 lb hot Italian sausage, ground (again, if necessary, remove from casings)
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
1 celery rib, finely diced
1/2 lb green lentils, soaked for about 1 hour and rinsed*
4 springs of fresh thyme, leaves removed and minced
1 quart vegetable broth (I used Better than Boullion Vegetable)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 bag baby spinach, roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the sausage and brown lightly, breaking it up as it cooks.

Add the remaining 1 tsp of olive oil along with the garlic, onion and celery.  Saute until the vegetables are soft, about 3 more minutes.

Add the lentils, thyme, sweet potato and vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat.  Simmer for 1 hour, or until the lentils are tender.  Add the spinach, stir and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until all the spinach has wilted into the soup.

Enjoy!

*Confession time: I have some trouble figuring out the difference between different types of lentils at the store.  This might partially be the result of my grocery store only having a limited selection of lentils. I *think* I used green lentils, but they just look kind of brown to me, and the package just said "lentils." So there you are.  Tasted great though.

Meatless Monday: Bhindi Masala and Dal

I LOVE Indian food. It's probably my favorite type of cuisine (although there aren't many types of cuisine I don't love). Indian food is hands-down the best.

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, I remember eating spicy saag paneer in my best friend Elena's basement.

When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I remember my dad teaching me the rules of football using the items on the table at an Indian food place in a food court near Ohio Stadium.

When I was in college, there was an Indian food restaurant around the corner from my apartment, and a couple of my friends and I would go there almost weekly for buffet. It was a tiny place, with maybe 8 tables and a little room where they'd set out the buffet. It was *so* good. The owner, Kumar, got to know us so well that once when I ordered carry-out on a busy night, he just told me I could pay the next time I came in. When my friends moved away, he would ask after them whenever I ate at the restaurant.

For my birthday, MG and I tried out Indique, a nice Indian place in Cleveland Park. We enjoyed it so much that we went back 11 days later, for MG's birthday.

The summery veg.

Learning to cook Indian food has been one of the great joys of my culinary journeys, because A) Indian food isn't cheap at most restaurants and B) it makes my whole apartment smell awesome. Seriously, garam masala and ginger scented candles would be a pretty great invention. (P.S. if you know of a place where I can get garam masala scented candles, email me immediately).

So far, the best source I've found for accessible Indian recipes is Deb over at Smitten Kitchen.  I've made several of her vegetarian Indian recipes, and they've all turned out fantastic! If you are interested in starting to cook Indian food, I recommend starting there. Some of the ingredients and techniques involved in Indian cooking can be a little daunting, but she does a great job of making them very easy to make at home. And don't be afraid of the initial upfront cost of the spices - if you enjoy cooking Indian, you'll get a lot of use out of them, and the other ingredients are so inexpensive that it's still a very affordable cuisine to make at home.

 

I've been eyeing a recipe for bhindi masala (okra curry) that was posted on The Kitchn a few weeks ago. It was on my list of top 5 things to make before the summer runs out (okra being one of my favorite summer veggies), so I decided it would be an excellent candidate for Meatless Monday. I pretty much followed the recipe as-is, although I omitted the curry leaves and the cilantro (per MG's request).

Bhindi masala is a wonderful melding of spices and heat and vegetables, but since the only veggies are in there are okra, tomato, green pepper and onion, it doesn't have much protein. So, I decided to pair it with the yellow dal from Smitten Kitchen, which I've made before and love. Each recipe made 6 servings and with basmati rice we were both quite full and happy at the end of our meal. And looking forward to leftovers tomorrow! Another Meatless Monday in the books. :)

Delicious, nutritious and colorful!