Quick Lunch - Black Bean and Sausage with Peppers Over Rice

So, to start, I had made a pot of black beans over the weekend so those were the base for my dish. I challenged myself to whip up lunch in 30 minutes! You can do this for dinner too! Here is what you need....

Cooked white rice (use up leftovers!)
1 link sausage (any kind you like)
1/2 yellow onion
1 small bell pepper (any color)--- mine was from the garden and it was beginning to turn red
1 clove garlic (you will see a theme here--- we love garlic!)
2 tablespoons canola or olive oil
few dashes hot sauce
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 and 1/2 cups water
2 cups cooked beans

Ready, set, GO!

 

Chop up your onion, bell pepper, and garlic while you heat up the pan with the oil.

 Throw in your veggies and saute for a couple of minutes.

 

Slice your sausage on the diagonal and put in the pan with the veggies. Cook until sausage and veggies begin to lightly brown.

Add in a couple dashes hot sauce and a 1 teaspoon of tomato paste. (if you don't have tomato paste - no problem! Use a little diced tomato or even ketchup if you have too!)

Give it a stir for another 5 minutes and then add in the black beans and spices. 

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

 While your waiting, get your rice out and heat it up! If you don't have leftover rice, you could easily start the rice in the beginning and it would be done at almost exactly the same amount of time to whip up this dish!

And that's it! What an easy dinner! 

 

You could easily do this with chicken and white beans.

Actually, leftover chicken would be great! I think I'll have that on the menu for next week!

Totally Homemade Spaghetti with Manly Meat Sauce

Now that I am not working in an office setting, my mornings are completely different! Pick up things left out overnight by my 3 year old, wash whatever remaining dishes, washing a load or 2 of clothes, etc. Then it's time to think about Lunch. Hmmm. Well since I don't eat out for lunch anymore, I decided to make our own "Take Out." General Tso Chicken with Egg Drop Soup. It's actually not that difficult. Cut up some chicken tenders into the size you like, toss them in a cornstarch/soy sauce batter and fry them up. Mix up a spicy sweet and tangy sauce...toss chicken in with some green onion and serve over white rice. Yummy! Since I didn't realize I was starting a bog until Wednesday, I didn't take any pictures of that one.  :-(  I'll make it again soon and will post then!


Later in the afternoon, I spoke with my friend Leslie and she happened to ask for my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe. No problem! So I took photos of that one!

On to dinner!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1 large can of whole tomatoes
1 medium onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced (or put thru garlic press-- grating works too)
1 teaspoon dried  Oregano or fresh
a pinch of red pepper flakes
2-3 tablespoons sugar (depending on your taste)
2 teaspoons kosher salt (again depending on your taste)
1/4 cup red wine (optional)*
2 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)*
1 and 1/2 cups water
1 pound ground beef (80/20)

*I have totally made this recipe many many times without red wine or tomato paste and it is still yummy!

Begin by draining your can of tomatoes and crushing them with your hands. Save the drained liquid for the sauce. Squeeze out as much as you can!

  Heat the oil in the pan while you dice up the onion and garlic.

Saute the onions for a couple of minutes, then add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, garlic, red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Saute for about 8 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to stick a little and leave a film on the pan.We are creating a caramelized tomato flavor so this is definitely what we want to happen!

 

Now add in the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds or until you smell the garlic.

Put in your tomato paste and red wine and give it a good stir!

Add in your reserved tomato liquid, some of the basil, and add about 1 and 1/2 cups water to loosen it up. cover and simmer the sauce while you brown your hamburger meat.

 Drain your ground beef and add into the sauce. Check for seasoning. I like my sauce on the sweet side, so I typically add the rest of the sugar and salt now. Cover and simmer while you cook your noodles.

I added in a big handful of Parmesan cheese and stirred it around before I plated it all up.

 I love any kind of cheese.

 

 And here is the final product! Yummy! And not too difficult! You may never buy store bought sauce again!

Starting my new job!

So this all started 3 months ago when my husband and I decided it was time for me to quit my career job and be a "stay at home" mom for a while. Or at least until our son starts kindergarten. It is beginning to be  might I say - an adventure and learning experience!

Check out a few of the food adventures my chef cousin Marc and I recorded this past month while he was home for a visit....

 

Pan fried chicken breast with a creamy dijon mustard sauce! This was amazing! He taught me how easy it really is to make a delicious sauce to go with boring chicken breast!

 

I made this simple mini fritatta one Sunday morning. i was looking for a breakfast, other than cereal or bacon, that my 3 year old would like. It was a hit! And took less than 30 minutes to whip up!

 

Chef Marc made a delicious Green Bean Greek Salad. An alternative to a traditional lettuce based salad. It was really yummy and again - not hard to make!!