Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup with Fennel

So, we are all out to dinner at Carrabba's or Olive Garden one, I can never remember.  What I can remember is the soup.  I really enjoyed the soup.  No huge surprise there, I generally love soups and will almost always be in the mood for a good soup.  When we got home, I logged on to the internet and began searching for a similar soup.  Unfortunately, all I could find were casseroles.  We tried a couple of them and they were pretty good, but I longed for the soup.  Finally, I decided to wing it and see what I came up with. This is not exactly the same, but it is very similar.  

If you cannot find a fennel bulb, you can use the fennel seed from a jar, but the bulb gives a richer flavor.

Chop some of the fern like part of the fennel too!

Saute your onion, celery and garlic.

Stir in the ferny part of the fennel you chopped.

Once you have added everything allow the soup to cook until the lentils, carrots and potatoes are cooked through.

We like our soups hearty, so it definitely has more "stuff".  Overall the flavor profile is the same.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage (if links, slice into bite sized pieces)

10 cups chicken or vegetable stock (you can add more if you like a less hearty soup)

6 cloves garlic chopped (this amount is for normal people which we are not, we like garlic, so I use a whole head of garlic when i make this soup - choice is yours)

1 medium onion chopped

4 stalks celery, sliced

4 carrots peeled and sliced

4 potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized pieces (none in the original, but I like them)

1 bulb of fennel diced (use the white part of the bulb)

1 tsp chopped fennel leaf (the fern looking part of the fennel)

1 cup diced canned tomatoes

1 1/2 to 2 cups lentils - the type is your choice.

salt and pepper to taste

A bowl full of yum!!!

Brown the Italian Sausage in a skillet.  Remove the sausage from the skillet and put to the side.  Take one tablespoon of the drippings from the sausage and put it in your stock pot (8-10 quart pot).  Add you garlic, onion and celery to the stock pot and saute until the onions are just translucent careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the stock and the lentils and cook on medium for about 15 minutes.  Taste at this point and add any necessary salt and pepper.  Add all the other ingredients, except the sausage, and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Add the sausage and continue cooking on medium heat until the lentils, potatoes and carrots are done.  Adjust the amount of stock as needed for your taste, and remember lentils are a dried bean, so the different types could require more or less, so be flexible.   

Let me know what you think.  I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do.

Southern Chicken Salad Plate

We love chicken salad, but to make it a meal inclusive of veggies, you have to make it more than just a sandwich.

Well, I guess we could call that blog interrupted.  We have still been cooking, and I have even thought to take some pictures, but I have just not had the time to get here and document any of the meals we have been preparing.  So, what has been keeping me so busy?  Probably the same thing that keeps all of you busy.  Family, work, and a nasty cold, yuck!  However, it seems all is much better on that front and it is time for me to do something just for me.  Something like posting on here.

I am also busy working on Christmas presents for a few people, but I can't put those on here until after Christmas.  It may end up being the same few people who check out the recipes.  Speaking of which, I guess some people consider chicken salad a summer dish, but for me it is a year long favorite.  There are as many recipes for chicken salad as there are people in my home town, so you probably already have one, but if you are like me, you never turn your nose up at a new way to try something.  For this particular version I have used a bread and butter pickle relish and Dijon mustard.  So here goes:

4 chicken breast - boneless, skinless are easiest, but not necessary
Salt
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or sage
1 medium bell pepper, diced (the salad is really pretty if you can use a variety of colors, but this time of year I stayed with just green as the others are getting too expensive)
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup pickles chopped or pickle relish
3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Cayenne pepper to taste, I use about 1/4 a teaspoon when people other than family will be eating
1 teaspoon Nature's Seasoning (seasoning blend from Morton's, different flavor profile than a season all and works really well with chicken and vegetables)
15 grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup sliced cucumbers
2 cups chopped lettuce, the type is your choice, we use romaine
half dozen eggs

Rinse the eggs and the chicken and place them in a pot of salted water, add poultry seasoning (or sage) and bring to a boil.  While the chicken and eggs are cooking, prep the bell pepper, celery, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.

Remove the eggs from the water after it has boiled for 5 or 6 minutes.  Place them in a bowl and run cold water over them until they are just cool enough to handle but still warm.  Crack the shell of the egg thoroughly and peel it away from the egg.  Put the eggs to the side.

If you have ever had trouble peeling boiled eggs I have found the key being plenty of salt in the water you are using to boil the eggs, the temperature of the egg when you are peeling it, and finally when you crack the shell, you will need to get under the membrane that is between the egg shell and the white of the egg.

Dice the chicken being careful to remove any fat, gristle or bone.  As a side note, I don't always dice the chicken.  Sometimes I will shred it by using two forks to pull it apart (a favorite, but labor intensive), sometimes I will put in the food processor, or I will vary the size of the dice.  The version pictured is a medium dice.  All of these variations can change how your chicken salad comes out.  Place the diced chicken in a bowl with the celery, bell pepper, mustard, mayonnaise, pickle or pickle relish (I have substituted diced jalapeno on occasion, which is also good) and the seasonings (celery seed, Nature's Seasoning, cayenne pepper and mix well.  You will notice the salad is not real wet with mayonnaise.  When you are having a chicken salad sandwich, the salad requires more mayonnaise, but a plate only requires enough mayonnaise to help bind the salad.  This is great if you have someone who doesn't like mayonnaise (like my hubby).

If you can get Duke's Mayonnaise and Mt Olive Pickles, I encourage you to try them.  Your salad will love you for it.

 Now that your chicken salad is all prepped and ready to go, all you have to do is put your plate together.  We start with a bed of lettuce, scoop on the chicken salad and add the veggies and halved boiled eggs to the side.  It is a beautiful plate that is also healthy and oh so good.  And, if you know me this makes a difference...the left over salad makes a great lunch the next day. :)

Doesn't that look great!