Lentil and Sausage Stew

Although the snowy pictures I posted yesterday suggest otherwise, this winter has actually been oddly mild, with more 50 degree days than we usually have in an average spring. My tulips, normally early-April arrivals, have unwisely poked their heads above the ground, along with my daffodils (I'm not so worried about them--they are hardier.)

Nevertheless, it's still cold enough to welcome a hearty bowl of stew for dinner.  Here's a good one I made this weekend. My friend SH also happened to make something similar (great minds, right?), but she added kale, which sounds amazing. Of course, she lives near Trader Joe's, where you can get bags of prewashed, precut kale.  Please, please, please could we get a TJ's here sometime soon so this lazy cook can add some superfood yumminess to her dishes, too?

In the meantime,

• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage (my friend SM gave me this since she can't stand cutting the casings off sausage.
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 4 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 (16 oz) package dry lentils, rinsed
• 1.5 c sliced carrot (the purple, yellow, orange and white ones from our garden added a fun touch)
• 8 c water
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 t Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, thyme, etc.)
• 1 T garlic powder
• 1 T salt, or to taste
• 1/2 t black pepper
• I did not have the fresh parsley or the bay leaves that the original recipe called for, but the stew didn't seem to suffer much.

Brown the sausage and add the onion, garlic, and celery. Add everything else and cook for about 2 or 2 1/2 hours.  You could probably do this in the slow cooker, too, if you wanted to.  Just simmer it longer.  This makes a lot. We had it for two meals, with plenty left over to pop in the freezer for several future dinners.

Here's the only photo I thought to take--just before eating the last bite. I guess it proves it was good. . .