Lighten up with a quick turkey sausage cooked with hearty lentils and tomatoes. This stew “sticks to your ribs” without sticking to your waistline, and it delivers a nice protein boost to your day. Instead of croutons, roast sweet potato cubes while it cooks, for a more nutritious topper.
This one’s a great meal prep option for the week. It’s hearty enough to have for lunch and keep you full throughout the day. You can also boost the nutrition benefit by adding vegetables to the stew like carrots, celery, leafy greens or squash.
Active time: 20 minutes Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Lentil-Sausage Stew With Sweet Potato “Croutons”
Ingredients
- 1 5-inch sweet potato, cubed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounces (340g) ground turkey
- 2 teaspoons dried sage, rubbed
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 cup (160g) onion, chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1 cup (200g) brown or green lentils
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 cup (22g) shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Pile the sweet potato cubes on a sheet pan with a rim and drizzle with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Toss to coat and spread on the sheet pan. Roast for 20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender when pierced with a paring knife. Let cool.
In a large bowl, place the ground turkey and sprinkle with the sage, paprika and basil, mix well.
Place a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, then crumble the turkey mixture into the pan. Stir and turn the turkey until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the onions and stir for another minute, then add the tomatoes, lentils, 4 cups (1L) water and tomato paste and bring to a boil.
Cover the pot and reduce the heat to medium-low to hold a simmer. Cook for 40 minutes, then uncover and stir in the crushed red pepper, and cook until the lentils start to fall apart and thicken the soup, about 10 minutes longer.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese and serve 2 cups stew with about 3 tablespoons of the roasted sweet potato cubes over each one. Makes about 8 cups soup and 3/4 cup sweet potatoes
Serves: 4 | Serving Size: 2 cups stew and 3 tablespoons croutons
Nutrition (per serving): Calories: 370; Total Fat: 6g; Saturated Fat: 1g; Monounsaturated Fat: 3g; Cholesterol: 56mg; Sodium: 161mg; Carbohydrate: 45g; Dietary Fiber: 8g; Sugar: 6g; Protein: 36g
Discover hundreds of healthy recipes — from high protein to low carb — via “Recipe Discovery” in the MyFitnessPal app.
