Monday, October 31, 2011

The Magical Fruit

Happy Halloween, you guys!

I am pretty unhappy about this whole "Halloween being on a Monday" thing.  Seriously limits my Halloween options.  I'm still not sure what we're doing tonight, but it better rhyme with wearing my SWEET homemade Chell costume in a public setting.

Anyway. Let's talk about food!

I've been on a serious lentil binge lately, much to the chagrin of people who have to spend a lot of time sitting next to me.  My stomach is very susceptible to vaporous expulsions if introduced to a member of the legume family (they make me fart. A lot). Sorry Raed. Let's consider this payback for the rest of the year.

Oh, but they're tasty.  You can do about 3 million things with them, too. They're also full of fiber and other healthy yum yums to make your tummy happy and regular. Yeah, I said yum yums. I'm sticking by that.

I make some crazy things with lentils, especially when I'm too poor to afford things that aren't currently in my kitchen.  I made some ridiculously awesome lentil enchiladas once.  So crazy good.


This recipe is one of my favorite go-to lentil dishes, probably because it contains my two all-time favorite ingredients: kale and sausage.  This recipe technically feeds 2 very hungry people, but you could easily make it larger by increasing the lentil-to-sausage ratio.

One Pot Lentil and Kale Stew

2 uncooked sausage links (preferably pork...I use Italian, but get what makes you happy)
1 cup of uncooked lentils (I used de puy, or "French Green," but get what makes you happy)
1 bunch kale, cleaned with stems removed and cut into manageable pieces.
2 cups water (or broth)
1/2 cup red wine
Olive Oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 small chopped onion
1 tsp Thyme
1 pinch red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper

Put a dutch oven on medium high heat.  Add about a tablespoon of oil. Cut your sausage links in half.  Brown the sausage on all sides until you've achieved a nice brown color on all sides.  Add the garlic and onion and saute until translucent.  Add the red pepper flakes. Add the wine and deglaze the pan by scrapping up any bits that may have stuck to the bottom.  Add the water, lentils and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil, then drop the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 25 minutes, stirring quite frequently.  Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper as desired.

When the lentils are tender, add the kale, and cover for 3 minutes to allow the kale to wilt.  Stir and taste for seasoning.

Serve in big ol' bowls with a drizzle of olive oil.

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