Red Lentil Soup with Sausage and Lemon

10 steps

• Add chicken broth to slow cooker and set timer to 3 hours on high.
• In a large skillet, heat olive oil to medium.
• Add onion to skillet and saute for about 4 minutes.
• Add minced garlic and saute for another 30 seconds.
• Add carrot, tomato paste, cumin, black pepper, and chili powder to skillet and saute for another 1-2 minutes.
• Add vegetable mixture to slow cooker.
• Rinse lentils under tap water and then add to slow cooker.
• Saute sausage in the skillet then add to slow cooker. If you have leftover cooked sausage, you can add that instead (ground or diced link sausage is fine).
• Chop cilantro.
• Once soup has finished cooking, turn off cooker then add chopped cilantro and lemon juice. Serve while hot.

Total yield = 8 cups
1 serving = 1 1/3 cups

Tips:
A small amount of sausage will give plenty of flavor - you don't need more. You'll get plenty of protein from the lentils.

You can make this with any type of lentil, but red lentils are especially good in this recipe.

You can make this soup vegan or vegetarian by using a vegetable broth and omitting the sausage. It is delicious and hearty even without the sausage.