Lentils Stew with Sausage

This lentil stew may be very British in origin, but instead of rashers and true style sausage, I've used lower fat and calorie chicken sausage. In this recipe, I used the Andouille style chicken sausage, but any flavor will work equally well.

2 links chicken sausage
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup onion, about one medium onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic, about one clove
1 tsp cumin seed
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary (or several sprigs of fresh rosemary)
1 bay leaf
1 cup chicken stock (or more if necessary)
1/2 cup sliced carrot, about one large carrot
1 cup cubed potato, about one large potato
1 lb cooked lentils
1 Tbs wine vinegar
several grinds of sea salt
several grinds of pepper

Direction:

Slice the chicken sausage and place in a microwave safe dish. Heat on high for 2-3 minutes, until the sausage is cooked and the fat is rendered. Drain off the fat from the sausages. Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes, until the onion just begins to turn translucent. Add the spices and cook for another minute, until the spices begin to smell pungent. Add the chicken stock, along with the carrot, potatoes, and lentil and cook until the carrots and potatoes are tender. Taste, adding vinegar, salt, and pepper to your liking. Serve with a green salad as a side.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side dish

Stealthy Cooking Tip: You can find cooked lentils in the vegetable section at Trader Joes. If you can't find them in the vegetable section, you can use 2 cans of cooked lentils. You can also use dry lentils. If you use dry lentils, you'll need to increase the liquid to 4 to 6 cups, and increase the cooking time up to one hour. Taste the lentils to make sure they are tender. Dried lentils vary in the amount of time for cooking. The older the lentil, the longer it takes to cook!