Keep it simple with lentils, sausage soup

I love soup season, that time of year when the temperature drops, and a big bowl of homemade soup is a very satisfying meal.

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During this time of year, dinner at my house is often homemade soup and good crusty bread.

While many homemade soups must simmer for hours, my French-style lentil-sausage soup cooks up unattended in the slow cooker. Lentils are quick-cooking legumes, and in this week's recipe, they're combined with aromatic vegetables and smoked sausage.

You'll usually see canned beans used in this column's recipes because they eliminate the need to soak beans overnight and then cook them for hours. Lentils are the exception because they do not need to be soaked before cooking, and cook up in about 30 minutes.

Lentils also are nutritious. They're fat-free, high in protein and are a great source of fiber. Plus, one cup of cooked lentils includes almost 90 percent of the recommended daily allowance of folic acid for women.

I used the standard brown lentils found at the supermarket when preparing this recipe, but there are other varieties of lentils, including red, green and yellow, available at specialty grocers and by mail order. Whichever color you use, pick through the dried lentils (you'll sometimes find small stones or clumps of dirt in dried beans) and rinse them before adding them to the soup.

The remaining ingredients are as simple to assemble as cutting open some cellophane packages. Chopped frozen onion from the freezer section and pre-shredded carrot (which you can find in the produce section of most supermarkets) are two great convenience products. You will have to chop your celery and cut smoked sausage into discs, a five-minute chore at the most.

The soup is flavored with garlic powder and dried Italian seasoning. Molasses and red wine vinegar are the soup's mystery flavors, giving the soup a rich, rounded flavor with subtle sweetness and a tiny bit of tartness. If you don't keep molasses in your pantry, honey or brown sugar can be substituted.

The lentils, vegetables and seasonings cook all day in a combination of reduced-sodium chicken and beef broths, and then sliced reduced-fat polish kielbasa is added and cooked for an hour. I add the sausage at the end of cooking so that it heats through completely without losing its flavor. While the sausage cooks, you can bake up a loaf of defrosted bread dough, French bread dough from a tube or heat one of those frozen, partially cooked baguettes available in the freezer at some supermarkets. A green salad would be a nice addition to the meal.

Slow Cooker Lentil-Sausage Soup

1 16-ounce bag dried lentils, rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, chopped or 1 bag frozen chopped onion, defrosted
1 cup shredded carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
2 stalks celery, washed, trimmed and chopped
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon molasses
32 ounces reduced-sodium chicken broth
32 ounces reduced-sodium beef broth
1 pound reduced-fat kielbasa, smoked sausage, or turkey kielbasa
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place the lentils, onion, carrot, celery, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and molasses in the vessel of a 5-quart slow cooker. Stir in the broths, cover and cook on low for six to eight hours. Add the kielbasa and vinegar and cook one hour more. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve. Makes 12 servings.

Nutritional information per serving: 223 calories, 2.5 grams fat, 1 gram saturated, 17 grams protein, 33 grams carbohydrates, 17 milligrams cholesterol, 855 milligrams sodium, 8 grams fiber.

Nutritional analysis completed by the Richmond County School Nutrition Program, in conjunction with the Augusta Area Dietetic Association.

Coming next week: Toffee trifle is a layered holiday dessert that's a snap to prepare and feeds a crowd.See Karin prepare the recipe at noon Tuesday on WJBF-TV (Channel 6).

Write to Karin Calloway in care of The Augusta Chronicle Newsroom, P.O. Box 1928, Augusta, GA 30903. Or send e-mail to karin.callaway@comcast.net. You can find previous Quick Cooking recipes through the online archive at AugustaChronicle.com/karin.