Posts tagged winter

This is the Lentil Soup

Food Friday: Lentil Soup with Spicy Italian Sausage

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2 years ago
by gmlee73 in

I think I’ve said before that one of the best things about Winter is soup.  Cindy and I decided that we’d have fun and make a different soup every Sunday, with enough to eat for dinner and then freeze for later.  Last Friday we made a Lentil Soup with Spicy Italian Sausage, from a recipe we found on Epicurious.  One thing it has in it that we don’t use often is parsnips.  I can tell you the soup is awesome.  We found chicken Italian sausage at Harris Teeter and used it to reduce the fat content in the soup, and other than that, we followed the recipe to spec.  It’s hearty, and flavorful and so so good.  Here are the details:

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound fully cooked hot Italian sausage, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 large onion, chopped (about 3 cups)
  • 2 large carrots, peeled, chopped (about 1 3/4 cups)
  • 2 large parsnips, peeled, chopped (about 1 3/4 cups)
  • 2 large celery stalks, chopped about 1 cup
  • 21/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning blend
  • 1 pound brown lentils (about 2 1/3 cups)
  • 3 quarts (or more) low-salt chicken broth
  • 1 5-ounce package baby spinach leaves

    • DIRECTIONS:

    Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook until browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to bowl. Add onion, carrots, parsnips, celery, and Italian seasoning blend to drippings in pot; cook until onion is translucent and vegetables begin to soften, stirring often, 7 to 8 minutes. Add lentils; stir to coat. Add 3 quarts broth. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls if soup is too thick, 20 minutes.

    Add sausage to soup and simmer until vegetables are tender and flavors blend, 10 to 12 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes.  And here’s how it turned out:

    This is the Lentil Soup

    So so good

    All in all, a really good soup.  I’d highly recommend it.  To see the recipe on Epicurious, visit this Link.  What about you? Got a favorite soup recipe?  I’d love to try it.  Send it to me!

    the art of running in the snow

    0
    4 years ago
    by gmlee73 in
    Running in the Snow

    don't let it stop you

    yesterday we got about 3 inches of snow here. it’s not much, compared to what we got in PA.  it was a normal training day, so it gave me the chance to check something off my list:  go for a run in the snow.  let me say this : its obvious where the term a “blanket of snow” came from.  i love the snow.  it’s like nature’s mute button.  there is nothing like going out alone for a run and having the planet turned way down so that all you here is the sound of crunching ice crystals under your treads.  when it’s that quiet, i can hear my breath so clearly that it’s like I can feel it entering my throat, filling my lungs and pushing back out of me even more. 

    i suppose running has always been a solitary event to me.  and it’s something i really look forward to doing alone. for years now my days have been spent working with and for people, constantly talking face-to-face, on the phone, sending emails, checking blogs, updating twitter, reading articles, doing research – i often feel overwhelmed by the amount of information exchange going on around me.  not when i run.  lots of people are part of running groups, or have running buddies.  not me, at least not yet.  as i said earlier, running is a lonely undertaking for me, and it’s on purpose.  i think that sometimes we’re scared to be alone, for fear of what our thoughts might reveal to us.  on my runs, things become clearer – they seem to crystalize for me.  so that lonely trek is one i almost always look forward to.

    now the first half of the 6-miler was into the snow, and that was interesting – tough to look up without getting an eyeful of snow, so most of it was done head down, eyes on the road in front of me.   once i made the turn to head back though, the wind was at my back and i could really get a good look at the world around me.  it was beautiful, white, and perfect.  other people were out enjoying it by then, and campus was particularly buzzing.  it was definitely cold, so the thermal tights and windblocker came in handy. but a handful of snow was the perfect thirst quencher.  so that’s checked off, but i hope to get to do it again.  and you should too.

    today was a different story – 18 degrees when i set out for a 5-miler.  the sun was out, but dude – it was cold.  about half way through i literally couldn’t feel my fingers.  and my face was pretty numb.  the biggest trick was dodging all the ice on the sidewalks.  tons of “refrozen” snow so it required lots of focus.  all-in-all this last week has been a real baptismal in winter running for me – a 18-miler all below freezing, a GREAT run in the snow and and icy obstacle course today.  all proof for me that winter is a special time for runners, a great time to see nature in her splendor and no excuse to stay in.

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