I adapted this from the Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins – fantastic cookbook. You can serve this as a light meal on its own or with a salad. To make it more substantial, add several slices of smoked chicken apple sausage.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Yield: a bit over 2 quarts (about 9 cups)
Special equipment: immersion blender

1 T olive oil
2 c. finely chopped yellow onions (approx. 1 medium onion)
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
3 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian*
4 c. water
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt, divided
freshly ground pepper to taste
1 3/4 c. brown lentils

*if you don’t have stock, it’s fine to use only water

Garnishes:
pickled jalapenos or fresh
chopped cilantro
Smoked chicken apple sausage (Trader Joe’s)

1. Heat oil over medium heat in stock pot until hot. Saute the onions until translucent, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and stir for half a minute longer.
2. Add the chicken stock, water, thyme, bay leaves, half the salt, pepper and lentils.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and partially cover. Simmer until lentils are very tender, about 40 minutes.
4. Discard the bay leaves and puree the soup with an immersion blender for about 10 seconds. Leave the soup a bit chunky and season with remaining salt to taste.
5. Ladle into bowls and serve with jalapenos and cilantro sprinkled on top. You may need to add water when reheating to thin it a bit – it gets nice and thick.