By Renee Martinez
Lentils are a good source of proteins, including the essential amino acids isoleucine and lysine. It is also one of the best vegetable sources of iron, which is particularly important for adolescents and pregnant women, whose requirements for it is higher. I always keep a canister of lentils in my pantry, since it keeps very well and is a breeze to cook because, unlike dried beans, it does not need to be soaked beforehand.
This recipe takes about 20 minutes of prep time, and 1 hour of cooking time – which is largely let simmer and walk away. This yields about 10 cups, or 5 main-dish servings.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb kielbasa (regular or turkey), cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 lb carrots, cut into 1/2-inch half-moons
2 medium stalks celery, sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
3 cups water
2 cups chicken broth
1 14.5-oz diced tomatoes, undrained
1 3/4 cups lentils, rinsed
In a large soup pot, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil on medium until hot. Brown the kielbasa in two batches (4-5 minutes each batch), adding another teaspoon of olive oil before the second batch. Remove the cooked kielbasa and keep in a separate bowl.
In the same pot, heat the remaining teaspoon of olive oil on medium. Add the chopped onion, carrots, celery, and sautee for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened and golden, stirring often. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute, or until garlic is fragrant.
Add the water, broth, tomatoes, and lentils to the pot. Once the mixture is heated through and boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low, and let simmer, uncovered for 40 minutes, or until lentils are tender.
Stir in kielbasa, heat through, and serve!
About the Author: Renee Martinez consults and speaks professionally on social media marketing, integrated marketing communications, public relations and branding. She is the president of Ruby Marketing Communications (www.rubymarcom.com), a boutique marketing communications company that specializes in providing branding, social media strategy and integration, and creative services. Her blog (www.lisac95.sg-host.com), provides resources on everything marketing and social media for her active audience.
Renee has contributed as a featured monthly columnist in the monthly jewelry industry publication, JCK on matters related to internet marketing as well as in InStore Magazine as a featured blogger where she writes about developing effective marketing strategies for the jewelry industry using social media. She is the founder of: Social Media Biz Summit (www.socialmediabizsummit.com), the first large-scale SM conference to come to Buffalo, NY; #jewelrychat, a weekly twitter chat for the jewelry industry and www.RaisingBoysWorld.com. Renee teaches social marketing courses at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY for the business school as well as offers small group social media marketing training and educational seminars for businesses in Western New York and beyond.
Renee has dabbled in internet marketing arena since the early 90′s and is not ashamed to call herself a “marketing geek”. From chatting in AOL, “sharing” music on Napster, and teaching HTML classes before it was considered “cool” to developing comprehensive social media strategies, effective public relations campaigns and managing online communities (most recently Chevy Girls Buffalo).
She enjoys being able to help people find their voice online and to create buzz about their product or service that will give them the results they desire. Renee can be found on Twitter (@reneemmartinez) and Facebook (http:/www.facebook.com/RubyMarCom).
