Lentils and Greens Soup with Chicken Sausage

Lentils and Greens Soup with Kale Chicken Sausage

As part of our wellness challenge at Power Group, we will be featuring recipes from Dr. Ann Kulze’s website on our blog over the next few weeks.  This is week 1 of our challenge and the focus is on carbs.  This soup is quick, aromatic, flavorful and healthy.  With complex carbohydrates from the lentils and green vegetables, it’s a great choice for a healthier diet.

I made a few changes to the recipe:

I decided to use red lentils.  And I chose a chicken sausage with kale from Whole Foods.  Finally, I used fresh spinach instead of frozen.

Lentils and Greens Soup with Chicken Sausage (10-12 servings)

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

4 links of chicken sausage, ½ inch dice

1 onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, ½ inch dice

2 celery stalks, ½ inch dice

¼ tsp cinnamon

2 dashes of clove

2 large or 4 small garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

10 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 cup lentils, rinsed

½ lb. chopped frozen spinach

½ lb. kale, center ribs and stems removed, roughly chopped

Kosher salt to taste

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer sausage to a plate. Add onion, carrot, and celery to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, cinnamon, clove, and pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.

Add broth and lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until lentils are tender, about 12 minutes. Add reserved sausage, spinach, and kale. Season soup to taste with salt and cook until greens are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice.

Calories: 120.3, Total Fat :5.1 grams, Cholesterol: 20 mg, Sodium: 690 mg,  Total Carbs: 11.0 grams, Protein: 9.1 grams.

Vitamin A, B-6 and C

Note: Keeping the sodium content in this recipe depends on the two ingredients adding salt – the sausage and broth.  To reduce the sodium, choose chicken sausages low in sodium.  Also make sure to use low-sodium & low-fat chicken broth.

– For more recipes, check out Dr. Ann’s website.