Recipe: Lentil and sausage soup

Happy snowy Monday all. I hope that you had a great weekend and that your week is starting off well. I had a decent weekend that culminated in a butt load of snow last night. We weren't actually supposed to get more than 3 inches but the warm front that was supposed to show up stayed too far south. So, instead of 3 inches of snow covered by ice we just got 9.6 inches of snow. I might be crazy but I think I'd rather have the excess snow and not have to deal with the ice. Anyway, my drive to work this morning wasn't pretty but I made it to work safe and sound and shouldn't really have issues on the way home.

I made my new recipe of the week yesterday which is a lentil and sausage soup. I know that lentils are crazy healthy and I love beans and bean soup so I figured I'd give this recipe a whirl. As it stands, I think I'd give the recipe B/B-, however, it's a good start and I think with some tweaking it could be pretty fantastic. My only concern right now is that I have a ridiculously large quantity of a soup that's just alright. My biggest issue with the soup is that by the time you add a whole package of lentils, the flavor loses a lot of its umph. I think it's partially my fault, I used turkey sausage instead of pork which I think would have held up better. The recipe also called for a half pound of sausage which when you consider that recipe filled my crock pot to the brim is not really all that much. I'd probably double that next time. Actually a lot of the commenters said they doubled the sausage. I had mixed feelings of sharing the recipe because it didn't wow me but it was good and very easy.

p.s. this version of the recipe contains some changes that I intend to make if I make this recipe again.

Lentil and sausage soup:

1 lb pork sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery
3 garlic cloves
1, 16 oz. bag dry lentils
1 c. shredded or sliced carrots
1 can diced tomatoes
10 c. chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. each dried thyme and basil
1 tbs. salt or to taste
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tbs. garlic powder

In a large pan brown sausage. Add onion, celery and garlic, cook until translucent. Add to crock pot. Add lentils, carrots, seasonings and chicken stock. Cook on high for 3 hours. Add tomatoes and cook on low 4-5 hours.

This recipe makes about 10 servings. I would cut it in half or you'll be eating lentils FOREVER! It is very filling because each servings has about 15 grams of fiber.