Lentil, sausage, and parsnip soup

The voting did not take long to count: 1 for parsnips, none for anything else, so parsnips it is.  Parsnips were a favorite vegetable of my youth.  Parsnips, carrots, and salsify were always planted where the snow, and there was always snow because this area was (is) the Lake Ontario snow belt, drifted over the straw mulched garden.  This meant that the soil didn't freeze and these crops could be harvested at any old time so long as you shovelled away the snow and moved the straw, but that's exactly what we did every 2-3 weeks.  Now that's fresh.  Here's a favorite soup recipe.

12 oz pork sausage links
1 medium onion chopped
1 1/3d cup lentils
3-5 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices (chunks)
1 clove garlic minced
16 oz canned tomatoes with juice
1/4 tsp marjoram
salt to taste
Swiss cheese shredded
 Prep time: 1.5 hr.
In a covered heavy pot or dutch oven, cook sausage in 2 tsp water for 5 min at medium heat, then remove the cover and continue cooking until the sausage is nicely browned.  Remove the sausage, drain, cool, and cut into chunks.  Set aside.  Pour off all but 1-2 tsp of fat.  Add parsnips, onions, and garlic; cook over medium heat for about 5 min.  Stir in the lentils, marjoram, 5 cups of water, and the tomatoes.  Heat to boiling, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 25-30 min or until lentils are tender.  Add sausage chunks and cook until heated.  Salt to taste.  Serve with healthy amount of shredded Swiss cheese.  Very nice with crusty bread on the side. 

This recipe can convince people that both lentils and parsnips are mighty tasty.