Chicken Sausage & Lentil Salad

So I clearly let myself go during the month of November. I am sorry to all of you who were missing my posts. Life has been very busy and unfortunately has gotten in the way of my posting schedule. But no excuses! Due to some current changes, my posting will likely become less frequent then everyone is used to, but I am going to do my best to crank out at least two posts a week. With that in mind comes this dish of sausage with lentil salad. I love lentils anytime of the year, but there is something so warm and hearty about them for winter time. The salad is easy to whip up and you can either grill or pan fry the sausage to add on top. If you are at all health conscious, you can always substitute the sausage for some grilled chicken.

Recipe yields 6 servings

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup green lentils
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp olive oil
1 cup fennel
1 medium yellow onion
1 large carrot
1 rib celery
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
12 chicken sausage
Salt & pepper, to taste

Finely dice the onion, carrots and celery.

Thinly slice the fennel and mince the garlic.

Cook those sausage!

Saute all of your vegetables in a drop of oil to soften them up.

Cook your lentils in a large pot with the bay leaf and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Drain them when they are done and remove the bay leaf.

Now that your vegetables are cooked...

..toss in the lentils. Add in your seasonings and give it all a gentle stir (red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper). You don't want to smoosh everything.

Remove to a serving dish and top with the sliced sausage. Enjoy!