I think of my freezer as a metaphor for my life. Recently, I reorganized it, and I can now see clearly what’s going on there. In the freezer, that is. Not my life. I'm still working on that. 

I have my bread lined upon one side of it, my prepared foods (Bolognese, dhal, black beans, etc) on another. I put all the loose little bags of frozen corn, peas, and other vegetables in a clear plastic bread bag, and I gathered my stock of frozen salmon fillets into another one. I put all my meats together, and now everything is in its place.

My little exercise paid some benefits—I discovered a lone D'Artagnan Andouille Sausage, left over, presumably, from making black-eyed peas at New Year’s. I love that sausage, and I always thought it would go well in my lentil-bulgur soup. I love that soup, but my metabolism has always demanded that I eat more that it at one sitting. I figured the sausage would cure that.

Adding the sausage is a bit of a sacrilege, of course, because the recipe for the lentil-bulgur soup comes from "Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant," a vegetarian cookbook classic. But I’m not actually a vegetarian, so I didn’t hesitate. For me to worry about adding meat to the soup would have been a little like an atheist worrying about not getting into heaven.

So I whipped up a batch this morning. That sausage is so spicy and smoky it made the soup into something more like a chili. And one bowl left me more than satisfied. This is what a bit of clarity brought me today. 

Lentil Bulgur Soup with Andouille Sausage

• 1 cup lentils
• 5 cups water (or chicken or vegetable stock)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Olive Oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• A dash cayenne
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup raw bulgur
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 28-ounce can peeled plum tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• Pinch of dried rosemary
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Andouille sausage, cut into pieces

Rinse the lentils and bring them to a boil in the salted water or stock. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for about forty minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, heat the olive oil in a heavy soup pot and saute the onions until they are translucent.

Add the garlic, cayenne, bay leaves, and bulgur. Stir, until the onions and bulgur are lightly browned.

Mix in the tomatoes and parsley.

Pour the cooked lentils into the pot.

Add the tomato paste and rosemary.

Simmer for another 15 minutes or so; until the lentils are tender. If the soup looks too dry, add some boiling water or hot stock.

Add the sausage and cook for about five more minutes.

Remove the bay leaves and serve, stirring in fresh spinach if you have it.