I love scrambles! When I’m not ordering pancakes at a breakfast place, I’ll go with an egg dish like a scramble. This particular recipe has some of my favorite ingredients: spicy Andouille sausage, mushrooms, spinach, onions and, of course, eggs. And while I don’t think the devil should get any credit for something good, this dish gets its name from the spicy sausage and red pepper flakes. Oh yeah! It makes a great lazy Saturday morning breakfast…enjoy!

Devil’s Mess
-recipe from The Sunset Cookbook (Oxmoor House, 2010)

A big, spicy scramble of eggs, hot pork sausage, vegetables, and red chile flakes in which all the flavors remain distinct.
Serves 6.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped andouille sausage (about 6 oz.)
10 large eggs
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes, or to taste
6 ounces spinach, washed and thoroughly dried (about 2 qts.)
Hot sauce

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and stir often until onions are light golden, about 10 minutes.

Increase heat to medium-high, add sausage, and stir often until sausage has browned slightly and released some fat, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and 3 tbsp. water.

Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and chile flakes. Stir until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add spinach to pan and toss with tongs until it has wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer sausage-vegetable mixture to a bowl and wipe pan clean.

Add eggs to pan and scramble just until set, 4 to 5 minutes, then gently stir in sausage-vegetable mixture. Serve with hot sauce if you like.

Sunset, OCTOBER 2008

I’m linked to:
Tasty Tuesday
Delicious Dishes
Tasty Tuesdays
This Week’s Cravings
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Tags: Andouille sausage, Breakfast, Eggs, mushrooms, onions, scramble, spinach

I love winter squash in every form! This spaghetti squash recipe is a creative way of using this humble and mildly flavored variety of winter squash. It’s simple, quick and a great way to get a good dose of your green and yellow vegetables.

For the squash, I scooped the seeds out before cooking. I used a large baking pan that held both squash halves and cooked them both at the same time in the microwave (about 15 minutes). Once it was cooked, I scooped out the flesh and tossed it with pepper, Parmesan cheese, and a little salt (not too much, though, because the Italian sausage mixture will be salty).

I used a nonstick pan so I didn’t need to use oil to brown the Italian sausage. After the sausage browned, I added about 4 handfuls of baby spinach leaves to the pan. After you add the spinach, let it wilt then taste the mixture before adding any salt. You may find that the sausage is salty enough as is. Spoon Italian sausage mixture over the shredded squash. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash with Sausage and Greens
-recipe from Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine

Makes 4 servings.
 
1 spaghetti squash (about 3 1/2 pounds), halved lengthwise
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces sweet Italian sausage
1 bunch spinach, stems discarded and leaves coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Place a squash half, cut side down, in a large, microwavable dish. Add 1/2 cup water and microwave until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Repeat with the remaining squash half. Discard the seeds. Using a fork, comb the squash into strands into a bowl. Toss with the Parmesan and season with salt and black pepper.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Add the spinach and crushed red pepper and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes; season with salt and black pepper. Serve on top of the squash.

Tags: crushed red pepper flakes, italian sausage, spaghetti squash, spinach

I got together with a group of girlfriends from my bible study on Friday to organize a friend’s garage. The friend we were helping is a mom of two young boys and her husband has been in the hospital for several months awaiting a heart transplant. Needless to say, it’s been a difficult season for this family, so a chilly, overcast November day was not going to deter us from the work we had set out to do. We were there to help a girlfriend, to let her know that she and her family are loved, and in some small way, to offer hope.

After we finished our project, we stood around the kitchen together eating a bowl of this Summer Minestrone with Pesto. Friends sharing life together and a hot bowl of soup…this is what it’s all about!

Now about the minestrone…I doubled the recipe so there would be plenty of soup for all of us. I used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, russets instead of the red-skinned potatoes, diced canned tomatoes instead of fresh (28-oz can for double recipe), chopped kale instead of spinach, and extra carrots instead of green beans. About 10 minutes before serving, I added a little bit of uncooked pasta to the simmering soup which helped thicken it up a bit. Once the pasta was cooked, we ladled the piping hot soup into bowls and garnished each serving with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Yumm!

Summer Minestrone with Pesto
-recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine

When a generous garnish of pesto gets stirred in, the soup turns a vibrant green and becomes perfumed with the intense and sweet aroma of basil mixed with garlic. Makes 6 servings.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
2 carrots, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 celery stalks, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 small red-skinned potatoes, quartered
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 small zucchini, halved lengthwise, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white kidney beans), drained
2 tomatoes, peeled, crushed
2 cups fresh spinach leaves, chopped
6 tablespoons pesto
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 4 minutes. Add broth and next 7 ingredients. Increase heat to high and bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover pot, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in spinach; simmer 3 minutes longer. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into 6 bowls; garnish each with 1 tablespoon pesto. Serve, passing cheese separately.

Tags: cannellini beans, carrots, celery, chicken broth, kale, minestrone, onion, parmesan cheese, pesto, potatoes, spinach, tomatoes, Vegetable, zucchini

This recipe for Pan-Roasted Chicken with Spinach and Smashed Potatoes is definitely comfort food. Plus, it’s a simple enough meal to pull together on a weeknight…you’ve got to love that! Husband was delighted when he walked in the door from work and was greeted with the wonderful fragrance of roast chicken.

I pretty much followed the recipe except for a few subtle changes. I chose to use a whole onion (quartered and some layers separated) instead of the shallots. Also, I used a different pan for the spinach so I could use the pan drippings from the chicken to make a simple gravy. I didn’t feel like messing with garlic so I didn’t add any to the spinach. If the lemony spinach sits too long then it starts to turn a funky greyish color so definitely wait until ready to serve before adding the lemon. For the smashed potatoes, I omitted the lemon zest and substituted good ol’ butter for the oil.  The taters were delicious and using potato cooking water in place of milk or cream is a genius way to get a healthier version of mashed potatoes. This was a great meal that I know I’ll be making again and again!

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Spinach and Smashed Potatoes
-recipe from Martha Steward Everyday Food Magazine
 
Serves 4.

1 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
4 teaspoons olive oil
4 large shallots, quartered
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pound spinach, trimmed and washed
Fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and thyme. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over medium-high. Cook chicken, skin side down, until golden and crisp, 5 minutes. Flip, then add shallots; cook until chicken is browned, 5 minutes. Flip shallots, then transfer skillet to oven. Roast until chicken is cooked through, 15 minutes.

Reserve 3/4 cup cooking water from potatoes. Drain potatoes and return to pan. Add 2 teaspoons of the oil, the lemon zest, and reserved cooking water; season with salt and pepper and roughly mash.

Transfer chicken and shallots to a platter and heat skillet over medium. Add remaining 1 teaspoon oil and the garlic cloves, and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds. Gradually add spinach, and toss until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Serve chicken with shallots, potatoes, and spinach.

I’m linked to:
Show Off Your Stuff
Strut Your Stuff Thursday
Recipe Swap Thursday
Foodie Friday
Friday Favorites
Favorite Things Friday
Friendly Friday Follow
Hop Along Friday
Family Food Friday
Family Recipe Exchange

Tags: Chicken, Comfort Food, smashed potatoes, spinach

I’m always looking for new and interesting sandwich recipes so I was intrigued when I saw this twist on a roast beef sandwich. There’s lots of flavor going on here: sweet red peppers, tangy feta cheese, earthy cumin and cilantro, and a lemony tahini dressing.

For the bread, I used a pre-cut loaf of ciabatta bread which I thought would be easier to serve and eat. Next time, though, I’ll use a crusty loaf (like the recipe suggests) that will stand up to the tahini dressing better. I served the sandwiches right away instead of refrigerating them for several hours (they would’ve been mushy since I used softer bread). Enjoy!

Roast Beef, Red Pepper, Spinach, and Feta Sandwiches with Tahini Dressing
-recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine

Serve with minted iced tea and tabbouleh, then offer baklava and cherries for dessert.

Yield: Makes 8

1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained, chopped
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1/3 cup minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1-pound loaf flat rustic bread such as focaccia or ciabatta, (about 2 1/2 inches high), cut horizontally in half
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (about 4 ounces)
1 pound thinly sliced rare roast beef
2 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves

Mix first 6 ingredients and half of garlic in small bowl to blend. Season to taste with salt. Whisk remaining garlic, tahini, water, and lemon juice in small bowl to blend. Season tahini dressing to taste with salt. Place bread, cut side up, on work surface. Spread red pepper mixture over both cut sides of bread. Sprinkle cheese over bottom half of loaf. Layer half of roast beef over cheese; drizzle with 1/3 of tahini dressing. Layer remaining roast beef over dressing and drizzle with half of remaining dressing. Top with spinach leaves; drizzle with remaining dressing. Press top half of loaf onto spinach. Cut sandwich lengthwise in half, then crosswise into quarters for a total of 8 sandwiches. Wrap each sandwich tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Blog parties I’m linked to: New Friend Friday,  

Tags: ciabatta, cilantro, feta, lemon, roast beef, sandwich, spinach, tahini

This is a delicious salad: tender chunks of chicken, crisp apple and fresh spinach tossed with a tangy-sweet curry and mango chutney dressing . Yumm!

I didn’t bother stemming the spinach or tearing it into pieces because I thought it was fine as is. I omitted the golden raisins and substituted chopped celery for added crunch (1 large stalk chopped), and substituted cashew pieces for the slivered almonds. I didn’t have green onions so I used chopped red onion instead (green onion would add more color to the dish so I will use it next time). For the dressing, I used olive oil instead of the canola oil. The changes I made were minor and didn’t dramatically alter the salad…they just saved me from having to make a last minute trip to the store.

Spinach Almond Salad with Chicken
-from Albertina’s Exceptional Recipes Cookbook

Serves 6.

2 lbs. spinach leaves, washed and stemmed
3 cups diced cooked chicken breast
2 cups diced red apples, unpeeled
2/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
3/4 cup toasted slivered almonds, divided

Dressing:
2 tablespoons mango chutney
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup canola oil

Prepare dressing. Place all dressing ingredients, except oil, in a food processor or blender. Mix well. Slowly pour oil through the feed tube while machine is running. This will emulsify the dressing. Refrigerate until used.

Cut or tear the spinach leaves into large bite-sized pieces. Refrigerate.

Combine diced chicken, apple, raisins and green onions with 2/3 cup of the dressing. Mix well and chill.

At serving time, add remaining dressing to spinach. Toss lightly and place on individual serving plates. Sprinkle sesame seeds over greens.

Add 1/2 cup almonds to chicken mixture. Spoon chicken mixture on top of greens and sprinkle remaining almonds on top.

Tags: almond, chicken salad, curry, mango chutney, spinach