Lentil Stew with Chicken Sausage

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays with friends, family, and of course lots of tasty food. For me it was a great time to relax and unfortunately for the blog this meant several weeks of inactivity. It also gave me an opportunity to try cooking some non-slow carb recipes which I found from Feast on the Cheap below (all were excellent as usual)

The New Year, however, brings a return for me to Slow Carb and after coming back from the holidays a bit exhausted, several days of being back on the wagon has given me more energy and focus as a result.

The following recipe was adapted from Lentils and Spicy Sausages on PBS.org’s Fresh Tastes Blog. The author, Jenna Weber, also posts recipes to her main blog Eat, Live, Run and both are great sources for some inspiring dishes.

Lentil Stew with Chicken Sausage

By slowcarbchef January 9, 2013

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

Chicken Sausage - 6 links
Carrot - 6 medium sized
Yellow Onion - 1
Celery - 4 stalks
Spinach - 0.5 lbs
Green Lentils (dry) - 2 cups
Garlic - 3 cloves
Fresh Thyme - 2 tsp
Fresh Rosemary - 2 tsp
Red Chili Pepper Flakes - 1-2 tsp
Smoked Paprika - 1 tsp
Bay Leaf - 1
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 4 tbsp
Chicken Stock - 1 qt
Dijon Mustard - 1 tsp
Red Wine Vinegar - splash
Kosher Salt - 1 tsp

Instructions

Begin by dicing the carrots[1] into 1/4 inch pieces and placing in a large bowl. Add
EVOO to a large pot and begin to heat at Medium. When oil is shimmering add carrots to
the pot and stir to coat. Now dice the onion[2] and celery[3]. When the carrots begin
to soften add the other vegetables and pressed or minced garlic to the pot and stir to
coat. At this point in the recipe you can either begin grilling the sausages or cooking them in a frying pan on the stove top.

Now add the rosemary, thyme, red chili pepper flakes, bay leaf, smoked paprika, salt, green lentils, and chicken stock to the pot. Stir well and bring mixture to a boil. Once the stock is boiling reduce the heat, add the dijon mustard and red wine vinegar and contiue simmering for about 25 minutes.

Once liquid has been absorbed into the lentils and the sausages are cooked, chop the sausages into bite sized pieces and add to the pot. Add handfuls of spinach and work into the mixture until all of the spinach has been softened. Season with additional salt to taste.

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0AdAKviw0o
[2] http://vimeo.com/22709715
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZhdc4m1iGY