curry lentil soup with kale and sausage

I need to take a new photo of this one.

There is nothing better than a big pot of soup in the wintertime. I first made this soup several months ago so that we could introduce lentils to Dylan. My first version didn't have the sausage and kale, two additions that I think really make the soup extra tasty (and nutritious). Dylan really liked his portion (I took out some before adding extra spice and salt and pepper), so I've made it a couple of times since. I love the recipe that has evolved and made sure I wrote it down so that I could share it with you (this is one that I usually just throw together without really measuring anything).

Curry Lentil Soup with Kale and Sausage

Olive oil
1 lb sausage (I use Hilshire Farms Turkey Smoked Sausage)
1/2 onion, diced
2 leeks, diced (I made this soup recently and forgot about the leeks..used a whole onion instead...just as good)
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 dash hot curry powder (you can increase this if you like heat..I'm a wuss, so I don't use a lot at all)
1/2 tsp. cinammon
4 cups of chicken broth
4 cups water
1 lb lentils
1 bay leaf
1 bunch of kale, chopped
1 lb sausage (I use Hilshire Farms Turkey Smoked Sausage)
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Brown the sausage in the bottom of the pan. Remove from pan and set aside. Add a little more olive oil. Add in onion, leeks, carrots and garlic. Add seasonings. Sauté until veggies soften a bit, then add lentils. Stir around and pour in the chicken broth and water. Add in the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer (covered) for 30-40 minutes until lentils are tender. Put kale on top of soup and cover. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes until kale is bright green. Stir the kale into the soup and add the sausage in to heat through. Take a taste and add salt and pepper and more seasonings as needed. Enjoy!

This soup freezes well (although you may need to add a little extra liquid when reconstituting). If making for a baby, leave out salt and pepper and cut the spices in half until you remove their portion. For a younger baby, I would pureé the soup. For an older baby you can pureé some and leave some whole, then mix together for a nice texture.

Serve with some nice crusty Italian bread, toasted under the broiler, rubbed with garlic and topped with butter. Use this as your spoon!