Sweet Love and Ginger

Weeknight Meals

Sausage & Tomato Rugout

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These last few weeks of beautiful weather has really excited me to get outside and spend some time in my gardens and finishing house projects. I mean it was 70 the other day and it was the beginning of March?! Usually we are still buried under piles of snow here in March so this is really weird. Unfortunately one of the side effects of spend so much time breathing in the fresh spring air is that I’ve kind of put cooking on the back burner for a while. It’s that weird time of year when the spring veggies and herbs haven’t quite made their appearance yet and I’m totally not in the mood for more soup so there have been a lot of tossed together last minute dinners lately. What can I say even I just don’t have it in me sometimes to cook a four course meal every night. I’d much rather be drinking wine by our new fire pit (more on that soon), I mean if we are being honest here.

Sausage & Tomato Rugout

This recipe is one that just keeps popping up in our household, and with good reason, since it’s one of my favorites. I love it because I always have everything for it on hand, it’s super easy to whip up for lunch or dinner and it’s pretty darn healthy too. I also really love that I can swap out ingredients for whatever I have at the time; for example I have used broccoli rabbe, kale, and collard greens instead of spinach. I have also changed the type of beans and even mixed them because I had leftover to use in the fridge.

While this recipe can easily serve four if you are interested in making it go further serving it with a side or pasta or rice is also a great option.

Sausage & Tomato Rugout

Sausage & Tomato Rugout
 
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 lb chicken sausage, sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 6 cups of loose packed baby spinach
  • ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
  • 2 (16 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute onion and sausages for 4 to 5 minutes or until the sausages have browned and the onion turned translucent.
  2. Add the garlic and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Stir in the kale, broth, beans, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Adjust seasonings and serve.
 

 

Similar Recipes:

Turkey Sausage & Wild rice salad
Sun Dried Tomato & Sausage Skillet
American Style Goulash

French Lentil and Arugula Salad

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This is a review of Food 52 Vegan. 

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for this review through the Blogging for Books Program.

French Lentil and Arugula Salad

As we try to eat more vegetable based meals I find that I’m running out of steam. I’ve kind of been stuck in the same rotation of meals, which quite clearly has not helped our waste lines. That’s why both Chuck and I are trying a diet challenge for the month of January. These little challenges give me a chance to flex my creative muscles in the kitchen and cook a different style of food. I have found that in my attempt to make sure I’m still getting enough protein on a restricted diet, while also maintaining my part time vegetarian diet and not getting completely bored, vegan cooking seems to be the way to go.

Food 52 Vegan

I recently picked up Food52 Vegan Cookbook and immediately fell in love. Not only are the pictures amazing, and the recipes superb, but there is a lot of really amazing step by step instruction, and additional info to help the average person understand the foundations of vegan cooking and diets.

This salad has been one of my favorites of the book, and a great go to for week night meals and lunches. I have made it exactly as prescribed, but also added a few ingredients here and there to spice it up. Thing like roasted red peppers, leftover black beans, hummus, and peanut dressing all work wonderfully with this salad base.

French Lentil and Arugula Salad
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: Serves 4
Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 ½ cups cooked lentils
  • 2 cups firmly packed baby arugula leaves
  • 1 cup thinly sliced radishes
  • 1 cup chopped endive
  • 1 cup sliced cucumber
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh dill
  • 1/3 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
  • Fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, shallot, salt, lemon juice, vinegar and mustard until evenly blended. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the lentils, arugula radishes, endive, cucumber, and dill. Drizzle evenly with the prepared dressing, then toss until the ingredients are evenly coated. Stir in the walnuts and season with black pepper to taste.
  3. Serve immediately.

French Lentil and Arugula Salad

Venison Meatballs

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This is a recipe for basic Venison Meatballs to be served with tomato sauce.

Venison Meatballs

In our house venison is pretty much a staple, and because of this I haven’t bought beef in quite some time, something you long time followers may have noticed. It’s not because we don’t eat red meat, believe me we do, it’s simple because we don’t need to buy it. I like to think that we are helping in the fight against factory farming by not buying it as well.

Anyway over the years I have learned how to work with venison as a substitution for when beef is required in a recipe; most of the time it works quite well. I know that many people worry about the gaminess of the meat and if that will come through in the finished dish, but this has never really been a problem for me. Much of the gaminess comes from excess blood in the meat poor butchering or dressing and can easily be corrected by soaking it in buttermilk or salt water.

This recipe is pretty straight forward and sure to please. While it’s based on the basic Italian style meatballs that would be served with tomato sauce this recipe is basic enough to be used with a number of sauces for serving.

Venison Meatballs

Venison Meatballs
Author: JC
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
  • ½ cup plain breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 lbs ground venison (95% Lean)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried basil
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
  1. Combine the bread crumbs and milk in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and pour the breadcrumb mixture over the top. Using your hands gently mix the ingredients together. Once combined use your hands to form golf ball sized balls.
  3. Bake at 400 degrees on a greased baking sheet for roughly 20 minutes or drop into a large pot of tomato sauce and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

Related Recipes:

Venison Swedish Meatballs

Venison Swedish Meatballs

Venison Meatloaf

Venison Meatloaf

Venison Steak with Mushroom Sauce

Venison Steak with Mushroom Sauce

Satay Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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This is a great recipe for Satay Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps. Utilizing the flavors of satay chicken in a new and unique way.

Satay Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps with peanut suace

I am just not in the Christmas Spirit this year. Call me a Grinch, but decorating has never been high on my priority list and as someone who is trying to downsize their stuff and move away from the excessive commercialism that is part of our culture the idea of shopping for more commercial stuff is just not appealing. Aside from the occasional soup I am not really into the Christmas food yet either. I’m hoping you guys won’t mind my lack of Christmas Posts this year, I mean everyone else in blog land is doing them so you can get your fill elsewhere, and I will just be your escape from it all.

This recipe is pretty much the last thing I think of when I of Christmas but as far as keeping it healthy and delicious around here it was perfect. So, perfect.

Both Chuck and I loved this recipe, and it came together quickly which is always a good thing, especially when your time is limited.

Satay Style Chicken

Cooking the chicken in a pan this way means that it can then be put over salad greens or steamed veggies with rice to create a number of different kinds of meals. I love versatility.

Now I know that the ingredient list looks gigantic, but do not let it scare you. If you enjoy Asian style foods you probably have most of these in your pantry already, so there is very little actual prep time, despite the large list of things.

Seriously give it a shot. It’s a great way to break up those heavy holiday foods with some healthy Asian style excitement.

Satay Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Satay Style Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • Chicken
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite size pieces
  • Peanut Sauce
  • ½ cup smooth peanut butter
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons sriracha (optional)
  • Romaine or butter lettuce leaves for serving
  • 1 carrot, peeled and julienned
  • ½ a red pepper julienned
  • 1 tablespoon scallions, chopped (optional)
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl whisk together the sesame oil, ginger, garlic, turmeric, lime juice, and honey. Add chicken and toss.
  2. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minute to 2 hours.
  3. Once marinade, heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add the chicken. Cook chicken, while stirring for 6 to 8 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.
  4. In a small bowl whisk together the peanut butter, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and sriracha until well blended and set aside.
  5. Stuff each lettuce leaf with carrot, pepper, and chicken. Drizzle with peanut sauce, top with scallions and serve.

 

Leftover Turkey & Stuffing Casserole

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Leftover Turkey & Stuffing Casserole

This is my version of one of my favorite childhood recipes, though I used to call it something a little less savory. You see this dish never really had the best looks since it’s all kind of monochromatic. I used to think it looked like vomit, which is not something you want to think about before you put the thing in your mouth, but in reality it was always a house favorite, because it’s delicious….

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