Spicy Red Lentil Soup

  

I'm a big fan of soups.  I love how the flavors come together to create something new, I love that they're usually good for several meals and I love that there's typically very few dishes when you're done cooking.  I hate dishes.  This is a great weeknight soup, it doesn't take forever to come together, especially because the red lentils cook faster than most of the other lentil varietals.

What you'll need:

• 1 onion, diced
• 1/2 cup green chilies, diced (to taste for preferred spiciness)
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 ear of corn, kernels removed (about 1 cup)
• 1 T olive oil (or cooking oil of your choice)
• 1 cup red split lentils (tip: they're actually orange ;-)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups water (or stock if you have some on hand)
• Avocado, cotija cheese (or feta), cilantro, sour cream, etc. for garnish
• 1 t. dried basil
• 1 t. dried oregano
• 1 t. cumin
• 1 T chili powder (to taste and depending on how many fresh chilies you put in).

Heat your olive oil over medium-high heat, add your celery, onion and green chilies and saute until translucent.

Add your corn and lentils and saute until the lentils begin to soften (just a few minutes).

Add your tomatoes, spices and water.

Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender and the veggies are cooked through.  The soup will thicken quite a bit, so feel free to add more water if you want it a little "soupier."

Garnish with everything but the kitchen sink!  And then try not to eat the whole pot, this stuff just gets better when it sits in the fridge a bit!

Quick weeknight dinner: Kale, chicken andouille, and pinto bean soup!

 

Now that you have a freezer full of stock,you'll have it on hand for quick weeknight dinners.

Believe it or not, I often come home and really only have the energy to dump things into a pot or put together a quick salad.  When you come home to an empty house after a 12 hour work day, it's tempting to have cereal for dinner, but trust me, this is much better (and will hopefully last a couple of nights).

 

 

I used Tuscan kale, sometimes called Lacinato kale for this recipe, but you can use any old leafy green you'd like!

I also tried out this smoked andouille sausage for the first time.  It's delicious, but be warned, it packs a bit of a punch.

What you'll need:

A stock pot

1 onion diced

2 cups canned pinto beans (I used frozen leftover Chipotle Beans. Yep, still working through my stockpile)

2 links smoked andouille sausage sliced into rounds (Open Nature is gluten-free)

1 bunch kale (about 4 cups) chopped. 

4 cups homemade stock (or store bought or even water in a pinch)

Salt and Pepper to taste (the sausage really flavored the broth, I didn't need much)

Honestly, I defrosted the stock in the microwave for a few minutes and then just dumped everything into the pot and simmered it until the onions were cooked through and the kale wasn't too tough, about 30-45 minutes.  If you want to get fancy, you could saute the onion and sausage in a bit of oil first, get some of that browning action going on, but I really just couldn't be bothered.  Don't fret, it was still delicious!  It reminded me of extra delicious bean with bacon soup, which was my favorite when I was a kid!

Happy Eating!