Chicken Sausage, Lentil & Leek Soup

Another winter recipe at your service! Lets talk about lentils for a second. It's considered to be one of the worlds healthiest foods. It's rich in fiber, great for your heart, stabilizes blood sugar, and provides iron for energy. You get the point... It's good for you, so eat more lentils!! Another reason why I love this recipe is because chicken sausage comes in different flavors so you can tweak it to your liking. I used Hot Italian Sausage which made my version spicy. You can always use Sweet Italian, Apple, Garlic, ect. And like usual I serve my soup with crusty bread for dipping. This time I made a Pilsbury French loaf. Yummmm!

Ingredients:

2 leeks (finely diced, only the white part)

1 medium onion diced

3 carrots 

1 T minced garlic

4 T olive oil

3 sausages 

1 1/2 cups cooked lentils 

1 small can of tomato paste

4 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

1 teaspoon ground coriander 

1 bay leaf

S&P to taste 

Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top

Dice all veggies and sauté in large stock pot with 2 T olive oil. About 10 minutes till softens

Brown sausages in remaining 2 T olive oil. Cut into pieces and cook until no more pink. 

Add tomato paste, sausages + juices from cooking sausages, coriander and S&P. Mix.

Prepare lintels according to bag.

Finally add broth, water, lentils and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then serve sprinkled with cheese. 

NOTE: you can freeze this soup and reheat it for left overs if you need to.