1st soup of Fall

Despite the summer weather, school is in session so we ate soup last night. Everybody loved it served with soft sourdough bread and butter and mixed apple salad over greens. (The whole meal was all planned out for me in "the best of Cooking Light: Soups and Stews"...a great magazine Adam gave to me for Christmas in 2005)

Lentil and Red Pepper Soup with Sausage

6 oz hot Italian sausage (I just used regular Italian sausage)
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (12 oz.) jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1 ½ cups dried green or brown lentils
4 cups water
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 (14 ½ oz.) cans vegetable broth
1 (14 ½ oz.) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
2 bay leaves

1. Heat large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Remove casings from sausage; cook 3 min. or until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and carrot; cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Stir in sausage, red peppers, lentils, and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25 minutes or until lentils are tender. Discard bay leaves. Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Tip: I have one or two children that sometimes get scared off by little red bits in their food, so I blended up the roasted red peppers with the olive oil, onions, celery and garlic. Then I sauted that for 10 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Mixed Apple Salad over Greens

Dressing:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp olive oil
dash of salt
dash of freshly ground pepper

Salad:
2 cups chopped Granny Smith apple
2 cups chopped Cameo or Braeburn apple
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
2 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
4 cups mixed salad greens

1. combine dressing, stirring with a whisk
2. Combine apples, cheese, and bacon. Drizzle dressing over mixture, toss gently. Serve over salad greens.