Archives for posts with tag: Sausage

One year and 30 meal plans later (including this one) Everyday Banquet is celebrating its first anniversary! I had no idea when I started this blog whether there would be any readers, let alone whether the idea of presenting recipes in the form of a weekly meal plan would strike a chord. It has been fun to read your comments and follow your interest on Facebook. By far the most gratifying comments have come from those of you who don’t cook a lot or didn’t think you liked to cook but have been trying new meals and liking them. That was always the goal – to get more people into the kitchen, cooking relatively simple and quick meals seasonally. So, on what I hope is the first of many anniversaries, I thank you, my readers for sticking with me and supporting me through the year!

Bon Appetit!
Elizas 1st bday cake_web

Meal #1:Beer-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Red Cabbage
Meal #2: Penne in a Cream Sauce with Pancetta, Roasted Red Peppers and Peas
Meal #3: Sausages with Lentils and Green Salad
Meal #4: Roasted Wild Striped Bass with Lemon, Olives, and Rosemary + Roasted Fennel with Artichoke Hearts

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items: 

fennel – 1
rosemary bunch – 1
bay leaves – 2
lemon – 2
red cabbage – 1 medium
red peppers – 2
apple – 1
onion – 1
carrot – 1
greens for a salad
artichoke hearts – 1 can in water
frozen peas
heavy cream – 1 small container
Kalamata olives – 1/2 cup
penne – 1 box
red lentils – 1 bag
dried thyme (if you don’t already have it)
Parmesan (if you don’t already have it)
ground chili pepper (if you don’t already have it)
reduced-sodium soy sauce (if you don’t already have it)
brown sugar (if you don’t already have it)
apple cider vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
pancetta – 4-6 ounces
sausage – 1 lb.
pork tenderloin – 2 (1 1/2-1 3/4 pounds total)
wild stripped bass – 1 6-8 ounce filet per person
lager – 1/4 cup

 

Sausages with Red Lentils and Green Salad

This is a great, after-work meal when you need to get dinner on the table fast. It is inspired by one of Mark Bittman’s recipes from Kitchen Express – a go-to cookbook for weeknight dinners. I used chicken sausage because we’re trying to lighten up this month, but pork sausage works too.

1 lb. sausages, sliced
1 TB. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 ts. dried thyme
1 cup red lentils
3 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TB. red wine vinegar
1 ts. dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Heat 1 TB. olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat and add sausage slices. Cook until they are just beginning to brown. Add a chopped onion, carrot, garlic, thyme and salt and pepper and saute.

Add lentils and water to a pot, bring to a low boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on the lentils, they cook quickly.
red lentils_web

Whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard and salt and pepper.

Drain the lentils and add them to the sausage and vegetable mixture, toss with some of the vinaigrette adding more as needed and serve.

 

A couple of weeks ago The New York Times’ Magazine was devoted to food, specifically kids and food. For many of us this is a touchy subject. There are a thousand opinions out there on what kids should eat and how to get them to eat more. One of the magazine’s articles that caught my attention was Virginia Heffernan’s public confession “What if You Just Hate Making Dinner?” In it, she admits that not only does she hate to cook, but she hates cooking for her kids. Frankly, I thought it was pretty brave, but some others thought otherwise.

Since my primary goal in starting this meal planning blog was to help readers cook more frequently for their families her article struck a nerve. I get it. Not everyone likes to cook. I don’t like to knit or really make any crafts at all. If crafting was required for survival my family wouldn’t make it. But, cooking is different. We all need to eat and the more healthy it is the better.

I hope that rather than making you feel guilty about not cooking for yourself or your family that this blog has at the most inspired you and at the very least helped you. Even for me, cooking and especially meal planning, can be a chore. With this in mind, this week’s meal plan is super quick and easy. The maple dijon chicken take about 5 minutes of active time and uses ingredients you probably already have, while the butternut squash polenta is a bit more challenging, but still easy enough to make on a weeknight. Hang in there and remember it is 100% okay to order pizza sometimes!

Something spooky to get you into the Halloween spirit!

Something spooky to get you into the Halloween spirit!

Meal #1: Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs + Roasted Green Beans and Potatoes
Meal #2: Skirt Steak with Arugula + Roasted Cauliflower
Meal #3: Butternut Squash Polenta with Sausage and Onion
Meal #4: Fennel and Garlic Shrimp + French Bread

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items: 

red or yukon gold potatoes – 6 medium
green beans – 1 lb.
arugula – 1 bunch
cauliflower – 1 head
onions – 2
garlic – 1 head
fennel bulbs – 2
butternut squash – 1 small
rosemary – 1 bunch
fennel seeds (optional)
French bread
fine polenta (not quick cooking) – 1 cup
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
maple syrup (if you don’t already have it)
dijon mustard (if you don’t already have it)
rice wine vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
boneless, skinless chicken thighs – 2 lb. (approx. 2 per person)
skirt steak – 1 1/2 lb.
sweet Italian sausage – 1 1/2 lb.
shrimp – 2 lb.
Pernod (optional)

Butternut Squash Polenta with Sausage and Onion

Didn’t I once say that I had never made polenta before? Well that has all changed. I had no idea how easy it is to make! And if polenta is easy that means grits are easy, which is great because I LOVE cheesy grits with bacon. But, I digress…. This recipe from The New York Times‘ Melissa Clark is very delicious and perfect for fall. Especially if you are looking for another way to prepare butternut squash beside roasting it.

Ingredients

It is a funny recipe though. Once you start cooking it doesn’t take too long to make and it is pretty easy, but the prep feels like a lot. Mostly it is the butternut squash that you have to peel, halve, de-seed and then grate. It really isn’t that much work, but on a weeknight it feels burdensome. That said, once the squash is ready the recipe is pretty straight forward.

Butternut Squash Polenta w Sausage

1 ½ ts. kosher salt, more as needed
1 bay leaf
1 cup fine polenta (not quick cooking)
5 ounces seeded and peeled butternut squash, coarsely grated (1 cup)
3 TB. unsalted butter
Black pepper, as needed
1 TB. extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
1 ½ lb. sweet or hot Italian pork sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds (or loose)
2 ts. minced rosemary
1 ts. fennel seeds (optional)
2 small onions, peeled, halved, and sliced into 1/4-inch half moons

In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine 4 1/2 cups water, the salt and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in polenta. Stir in squash. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until polenta and squash are very tender, 20 to 30 minutes. If the mixture gets too thick while cooking, add a little more water to the pot. Stir in butter and black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

While polenta cooks, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage, rosemary and fennel seeds if using. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is golden and cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. (Do this in batches if necessary, adding oil if the pan looks dry.) Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.

Add more oil to the skillet if it looks dry, then add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Return sausage to pan and stir to heat through. Spoon polenta into bowls and top with sausage and onion.

This recent post by Sarah Grey on Serious Eats about Friday night meatball dinners has been making its way around the Internet. And for good reason. For many of us having more time to relax with friends and family is a high priority, but one that usually gets pushed aside. For those of us lucky enough to live near good friends a night together feels like a luxury. Although I live within minutes of two of my best friends, we can go weeks without seeing each other. So, when I saw this post I immediately emailed it to them and suggested we give it a go. One of my wise friends suggested we aim for the first Friday of the month, rather than every Friday, and move the dinner around so that each of us host on a monthly basis.

And so, a couple of Fridays ago we began what I hope is a long-standing tradition. I hosted the first of our dinners and as Sarah Grey suggests, the dinner was open to outside guests. Along with friends, and a boyfriend we were joined by my friend’s parents who were visiting from out of town. Seven of us, plus Eliza on my husband’s lap, squeezed around our tiny dining room table in a our small Brooklyn apartment and had a blast. Showing our age and station in life, the night started by 6pm and we were cleaning up by 9pm. The time together was the perfect way to end the week and I can’t wait for next month!

Friday Dinners

For the kick-off I prepared a real Brooklyn meal – Sunday Gravy, or in this case, Friday Gravy.

Sunday Gravy – Serves 8

Sunday Gravy

olive oil
8 sweet or hot Italian sausage
8 meatballs
4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
handful of basil
2 TB. tomato paste
1/4 cup water
2 – 28 ounce cans of diced tomatoes + 1 -14.5 ounce can
2 boxes linguine

In a large pot with a heavy bottom, heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Brown sausages on all sides – about 5-7 minutes. Remove from pot and put aside for later. Repeat with the meatballs.

In the same pot, saute garlic and basil for 1-2 minutes.  Add tomato paste and water and stir constantly for about 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes to the pot and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. Lower to a simmer and cover pot, leaving a portion of the pot uncovered, and cook for approximately 2 hours.

About an hour before you are going to eat add sausage and meatballs to the sauce and continue to simmer.

Cook linguine (or spaghetti – whatever you like) according to the directions on the box.

Remove sausage and meatballs and put them on a platter. Toss pasta with sauce and serve.

Mangia!

 

 

 

 

By the looks of everyone’s Facebook posts most of your kids went back to school this week. Next week Eliza starts a two-day a week, morning preschool program and I gearing up for the excitement and nervousness that starting school will bring – more so for me than for her!

The beginning of the school year means that all of our lives get a lot busier. Along with the daily grind, many of you are probably juggling sports practices and games, music lessons and scout meetings. Finding time to meal plan, grocery shop and cook is even more difficult and ordering pizza is very tempting. I get it, I’m with you too. But, if you can swing it, it is nice to sit down a few nights a week to a home-cooked meal, and I promise you that this week’s meals are quick. I mean really quick. At least three of them can be thrown together in well under 30 minutes. Give it a try and if you’ve got bigger kids, enlist their help to put dinner together – they can use those burgeoning math skills to measure!

Big kids will love chopping (carefully!) all of the ingredients for this quick, delicious Greek Salad

Big kids will love chopping (carefully!) all of the ingredients for this quick, delicious Greek Salad

Meal #1: Grilled Shrimp with Greek Salad + Corn on the Cob
Meal #2: Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri + Cucumber Salad
Meal #3: Caprese-Stuffed Peppers + Steamed Green Beans
Meal #4: Italian Sausage, Panzanella, Corn on the Cob

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items: 

tomatoes – 6
cucumbers – 4
red onions – 2
corn – 2 ears per person
shallot – 1
red pepper – 3
green beans – 1 lb.
basil – 1 bunch
cilantro – 1 large bunch
parsley – 1 bunch
oregano – 1 bunch
jalapeño – 1 (or use hot red pepper flakes)
feta – 2 oz.
mozzarella – 1 large ball
Italian bread – 1 loaf
red wine vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
apple cider vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
kalamata olives – 1 jar (if you don’t already have them)
capers – 1 jar (if you don’t already have them)
Italian sausage – 1 or 2 per person, depending on the size
skirt steak – 1 1/2 lb.
shrimp –  1 1/2 lb.

 

Italian Sausage

You can use pork, chicken, turkey – whatever you prefer. If you have a grill, by all means use it! We don’t, so I broil the sausages for about 10 minutes, turning them over halfway through.

Panzanella (Tomato and Bread Salad)
Tomatoes_web

3 tomatoes, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
½ red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups of stale Italian bread, cubed
6-8 kalamata olives, halved
1 TB. capers
2 TB. red wine vinegar
4 TB. extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together and let sit for about 20 minutes. Add more vinegar, oil, salt or pepper to taste.

Corn on the Cob

Boil water in a pot, put shucked corn in the water, turn off the heat and put a lid on your pot. Wait 10 minutes or so. Eat with lots of butter, salt and pepper.

‘Til it’s over. Despite the beginning of the school year and the end of the vacation season, summer still has a few weeks left in her. Let’s make the most of it. Food-wise we are at peak season here in the Northeast. And just when summer produce starts to wane we get to enjoy winter squash, apples and brussels sprouts. See, it isn’t that bad!

Once again, I’ve put together a meal plan with four dinners that embrace the last weeks of summer. I hope you aren’t sick of tomatoes and corn yet!

I'm going to miss them when they're gone.

I’m going to miss them when they’re gone.

Meal #1: Chicken Cutlets with Tomato and Basil Salad + Green Beans
Meal #2: Greek Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta + Garlic Bread
Meal #3: Pork Tenderloin with Tomato and Peach Compote + Corn on the Cob
Meal #4: Summer Sauté with Corn

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

tomato – 5 lbs. (you have to enjoy them while you can)
peach – 1
red onion – 1
onion – 1
shallot – 5
corn – 8
green beans – 1/2 lb.
basil – 1 bunch
mint – 1 bunch
thyme – 1 bunch (or you can use dried)
ginger – 1 small piece (you can freeze whatever you don’t use)
feta cheese – 4 ounces
eggs – 2
bread – 1 loaf
balsamic vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
flour (if you don’t already have it)
seasoned bread crumbs (if you don’t already have them)
curry powder (optional)
pork tenderloin – 2
Italian sausage – 1 lb.
chicken cutlets – 1 1/2 lb.
shrimp – 1 1/2 lb.

Summer Sauté with Corn

This vaguely titled recipe came to be when I was trying to come up with a new way to eat corn. Treating corn as you would any other grain (pasta, quiona, rice, couscous, etc.) allows you to be really creative, and you can incorporate whatever you think looks good at the farmers market. I’ve used fresh green beans, tomatoes and sausage one night and then another night I was inspired by this New York Times recipe which called for greens, red pepper, scallions and bacon. Both were great and really quick. The key, of course, is using fresh ingredients that are in season.

Summer Saute the NY Times way

Summer Saute with Corn the NY Times way

1 TB. olive oil
1 lb. of Italian sausage, crumbled
1 shallot, minced
4 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob
1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut in half
1 large tomato, chopped

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add sausage and cook until no longer pink. Remove sausage from skillet.

In the same skillet sauté the shallot for 1-2 minutes. Add corn and green beans and sauté for another 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes and sausage and toss carefully. Season with salt and pepper.

Isn’t summer funny? My memories of summer as a kid are of endless days playing in the yard, swimming in backyard pools, riding waves at the beach and catching fireflies. It was the ultimate season of slack and it felt like it went on forever. But as an adult, summer flies by and is packed with planned events and activities. Most everything is fun, but there’s no slacking anymore….

Summer ‘s bounty also provides us with all of the ingredients we need to eat right and get healthy. Almost every fresh vegetable and fruit are ready for harvest and many of them can be enjoyed raw or with minimal preparation. Everything tastes great. Is there anything better than eating a peach so ripe that you have to stand over the sink or risk ruining your shirt? Summer even makes exercising seem like a great idea. I like to run, and my favorite time  to run is on a summer morning when the sun is up early and the temperature is still a bit cool. At the same time there are so many excuses and temptations in the summer. There’s ice cream, fruit crisps and crumbles, hamburgers, beer, rose and gin and tonics. How can you resist? You can’t….

So, the best you can do is embrace the season. Eat as well as you can during the week and indulge on the weekends and during vacation. Hopefully, these summer recipes are just the right amount of healthy, while still being delicious and fast enough to prepare that you have time to go out and catch some fireflies…

Luscious peaches you can indulge in guiltlessly

Luscious peaches you can indulge in guilt-free

Meal #1: Striped Bass with Green Beans and Tomatoes + Corn on the Cob
Meal #2: Citrus Asian Marinated Chicken Thighs + Sesame Broccoli
Meal #3: Salmon with Peach and Tomato Salsa + Corn on the Cob
Meal #4: Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Tomato + Kale Caesar Salad

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

cilantro – 1 bunch
basil – 1 bunch
thyme – 1 bunch
limes – 2-3
lemons – 2
orange – 1
green beans – 1/2 lb.
scallions – 1 bunch
shallot – 1
red onion – 1
heirloom tomatoes – 3 large
cherry or grape tomatoes – 1 pint
peach (or nectarine) – 1
corn – 1 per person for 2 meals
Tuscan kale – 1 bunch
broccoli – 1 lb.
gnocchi – 1 to 2 packages, depending on size
sesame seeds (if you don’t already have them)
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
reduced sodium soy sauce (if you don’t already have it)
skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs – 2 lb.
chicken sausage – 9 oz. (about 3 links)
striped bass fillets – 4 5-ounces each
salmon – 1 1/2 lb.