So, after eating out and eating crap and feeling yucky for awhile, S had the brilliant idea of us trying out a new soup recipe every couple of days for dinner... the idea being portion-controlled, many-leftovered, healthy meals that were more frugal and less heavy than what we'd been doing for a few weeks.
And I had a brilliant thought... I'll ask all of the awesome cooks/chefs/food-lovers on the TFP to share their favorites so we won't get too bored.
S made an incredible hungarian hot sausage-lentil soup that I'll share to start and I tweaked a Food Network tuscan veg soup with chicken and sriracha sauce.
Please share!
Rachael Ray's Hungarian Hot Sausage and Lentil Soup
2 T extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
1 1/2 pounds bulk hot Italian sausage
**S used just a pound of italian chicken sausage and it was perfect**
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 portobello mushrooms, gills scraped out, chopped
1 cup pre-shredded carrots, available in sacks in produce department of the market
1 cup lentils
1 large starchy potato, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 t smoked paprika (or substitute a mix of 2 t cumin, 1 t sweet paprika and 2 pinches cayenne pepper)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, in tact on stems
**we decided TWO stems only next time**
1 (14-ounce) can fire roasted chopped tomatoes, such as Muir Glenn or, regular diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken stock
4 cups kale or chard, a small bunch, veins removed and chopped
Crusty pumpernickel bread, to pass at table
Butter, for bread
Directions:
Heat a medium soup pot over medium high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, then add sausage to pot and brown and crumble it, then add garlic, onions and mushrooms.
Cook a few minutes, then add carrots, lentils, potato, salt and pepper, bay leaf, paprika or substitute mixture and rosemary (leaves will fall from stems as stoup cooks).
Add tomatoes and broth and cover pot then raise heat to high and bring to a boil.
Uncover pot and place heat back a bit but keep stoup at a good rolling boil.
Cook 15 minutes until lentils and potatoes are tender.
Wilt in greens in small bunches, remove rosemary stems and turn off heat.
Let stand 5 minutes.
Serve in shallow bowls with bread and butter to mop up stoup.
Reheat leftovers thinning it with broth or water.
**our leftovers didn't need any thinning, it was great the next day!**