Lentil and Kielbasa Stew

Handy ingredients, very simple to make. Very flavorful, with a wonderful aroma. I used beef sausage in place of kielbasa. In discussing the ingredients, everyone thought that any cooked left-over meat (roast beef, pork roast, chicken) -- or no meat -- would do as well. Definitely a keeper!

I made this with the following changes....great stew by the way......I used chicken broth 6 cups broth and 2 cups water. Added zucchini and summer squash sliced and halved, baby kale, and more garlic. Used garlic and cheese sausage, That is the sausage I had on hand. I also seasoned it with cumin, salt and pepper and a shot of lime juice. Yummy! Had a pot of brown rice already cooked and added that to the bowl before spooning the stew in the bowl. Everyone loved it! Nice with a salad and crusty loaf of bread!

My adjustments: Doubled the veggies including garlic; threw in a couple of beef bouillon cubes and a tsp. chicken base in lieu of salt, about 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, a tsp dried thyme, a couple of bay leaves; used red pepper/spinach/chicken sausage from Costco; increased simmer time for extra veggies, a splash of lemon juice at the end; no parsley. We liked it as much as the Honey-baked Ham Soup mix that uses the brontosaurus-looking leftover hambone. That's a real compliment coming from my husband. Thanks for all the suggestions!

After reading the previous comments, I made the following adjustments. I did 6 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of water. (Next time, I will do half broth and half water since the kielbasa already salts the soup.) I added no salt (see previous sentence). To enhance the complexity of the stew, I added thyme, oregano, and a bay leaf. I'd definitely make this again!

Made this tonight. Definitely needs something to zip it up. Should have tried the chicken broth. I might add some salsa when I serve it.

Added fresh mushrooms, red pepper, and cabbage. Should've used chicken broth instead of water...needed the extra flavor. Otherwise very good.

I made this using 6 cups of chicken broth instead of 8 cups of water and it was delicious. I wanted it more like a thick stew then a soup and this worked out very well! Yummy

I made this soup in the pressure cooker tonight as I did not want to wait 1 hour 45 minutes for dinner. I used a combination of different lentils that I usually cook for indian lentil soup, which was mung beans, small yellow lentils and small green lentils. I keep them mixed together. I find that they are more flavorful that way. I used polska kielbasa by Hilshire Farms and cooked it for 8 minutes in the pressure cooker, and at the end used a combination of the natural pressure and quick pressure release. Apart from adding a little bit more salt and pepper, the stew was delicious, thick and tasty. I would definitely make it again!