Dinner with an Identity Crisis

Fall sometimes inspires me to do weird things. Tonight I was at a major loss for dinner. I was out of quick staple ideas, Brad was napping, I was starving! After some inspiration reading my Culinary Institute of America Book of Soups, I for some reason decided that lentils and sausage sounded delicious. I could have made a soup, but it's still too hot for soup. I actually started dinner by trying to recreate a cold salad I bought from Plum market one afternoon for lunch. It had lentils, carrots, peppers, red onions and a garlic vinaigrette tying it all together. Dinner quickly morphed into something all together different though. I shall call it Lentil Sausage Smash with a side of Autumn fries.

Lentil Sausage Smash

1 Tbsp Earth Balance
1/4 cup minced red onion
2 spicy Italian sausages
1/2 cup minced baby carrots
1 pkg pre-cooked lentils (got mine at TJ's)
1/4- 1/2 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp tomato paste
3 Tbsp diced tomatoes in juice
1 tsp mint flakes
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp basil
1 tsp thyme
1/2 cup minced green & red peppers
salt & pepper to taste

Start by sauteeing the red onion in the butter for about 2-3 minutes. Add the raw sausage, casings removed, chop and stir until bite sized pieces and cooked throughout. Add the carrots, lentils, chicken stock, tomatoes diced & paste, mint, cayenne, basil and thyme. Simmer on medium-low until the lentils are warm throughout and mixture starts to thicken a bit. Add peppers and cover pan just until soft. Add salt & pepper to taste and serve warm. Serve accompanied with yam fries from TJ's that you have passed off as your own creation of "Autumn fries." Hehehe.