Easy Italian Sausage with Potatoes, Bell Peppers and Mushrooms

I’ve been cooking a lot since the temporary closure of our local restaurants, so my mind wandered when it came to new ways to present Italian sausage. I borrowed from a few recipes and added some of my own ideas and came up with this delicious and easy Italian Sausage with Potatoes, Bell Peppers and Mushrooms.

meal serves 4

Ingredients

6 small russet potatoes – halved

1 green or red bell pepper – sliced

3 or 4 hot Italian sausages with casing (about one pound)

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 onion sliced into wedges

1 clove garlic – diced.

1 tsp Italian season

salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray frypan with Canola oil, set burner to medium heat and brown the sausage for a few minutes rotating sausage to brown all sides. Add the onion and bell pepper to the sausage and sauté until softened.

Spray baking dish with Canola oil and to it add the sausage, bell pepper, and potatoes. Next add mushrooms, chicken stock, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir to mix and then bake for 30 minutes.

When plating, slice each sausage into thirds and then cover with equal vegetables. Look ma no pasta no tomatoes and it is still awesome!

Enjoy!

Roger

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EASY HAM AND BLACK BEAN RECIPE

Well with the Covid- 19 stay at home order in place, she who must be obeyed and I had lots of Easter ham left over. So I put my mind to work and knowing that black beans and smokey tastes go hand in hand I came up with a super easy, awesome Ham and Black Bean soup recipe.

Ingredients

1 lb. ham – cubed (I used left over spiral ham)

1 – 15 oz can of seasoned black beans.

1 – 15 oz can black beans.

1 – 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes.

1 – 14.5 oz can chicken broth

1 – 4 oz can Fire Roasted Diced Green Chiles.

1/2 large onion – chopped.

2 cloves garlic – chopped.

1 tsp dried cilantro.

1 tsp salt.

1 tbsp virgin olive oil.

Preparation

Heat the olive oil in large pot, add onion and sauté for couple minutes.

Raise the temperature to medium and to the pot add the tomatoes, chicken broth, garlic, cilantro, salt, and stir.

Next, drain the packing juice from the beans, rinse, and add the beans to the pot.

Next, add the ham pieces, stir to mix and raise heat to get a boil. Reduce heat to simmer cover and let soup cook for at least forty minutes. Check every now and then and stir to make sure the boil is not too rapid. You can add a little water if it is looking too dense.

If you have soft flour tortillas around plate a few for dipping in the soup. And that’s it you just made a super easy but awesome dinner!

Stay inside, do some cooking, and soon we can all get outdoors again!

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EASY SOUTHWEST SHRIMP SALAD

EASY RECIPE

While surfing recipes, for a light Monday night meatless dinner, I came across an interesting shrimp salad recipe on the Skinny Recipe blog. As usual I  couldn’t leave well enough alone, so after some thought I tweaked the recipe to arrive at my Easy Southwest Shrimp Salad.

recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

3/4 pound of pre-cooked medium shrimp – sliced in half or thirds depending on size.

1/2 cup red onion chopped.

1 lime – juiced.

1 tablespoon virgin olive oil.

1 beefsteak size tomato – diced.

1 avocado – diced.

1 jalapeño – seeded and minced.

1/4 cup kalamata olives – sliced.

1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese -crumbled.

1 bag spring lettuce mixture.

Preparation:

To a large mixing bowl add: onion, jalapeño, tomato, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir to mix.

To mixing bowl add avocado, shrimp, and kalamata slices, and gently stir to mix.

To four plates add spring lettuce mixture, top with shrimp mixture, and finish by crumbling gorgonzola cheese over each salad.

That’s all there is to making  super quick and crazy easy Southwest Shrimp Salad!

AND STUFF

A perfect gift idea for the Young Adult reader on your list is my sci-fi adventure novel The Regnum Event. The novel is available at all major e-book retailers.

Reviewed by Arya Fomonyuy for Readers’ Favorite.

“A perfect read for young adult fans of sci-fi, The Regnum Event by Roger Scouton features a cast of compelling characters, a gripping plot, and a rollicking ride that provides great amusement and excitement for readers. Meet twin bikers Germaine and Sarah Thompson, poised for the biking competition level BMX. The twins are in their final year in high school and could become the pride of their family. But an unplanned meeting with a starship changes everything. The alien, Novo, is wont to watch events around the universe and, from his distant and safe place, positively influence these events. He has been watching the twin bikers and he believes they could have an answer to a problem he’s been thinking about for a while. Perhaps they could be the answer to the impending war in a far off planet where a dying king is about to leave his people in the hands of a son with very little experience in leadership.

Sarah and Germaine are whisked off their biking trail by Novo, who wants them to witness a similar competition in another planet, to observe the prince and determine if he has what it takes to win an interplanetary war. This has to happen within the time frame the kids are supposed to be out biking, so they should be home before their mother suspects anything. But then a lot happens and they are facing more than what they bargained for. The adventure has just begun and it’s a thrill! Roger Scouton’s The Regnum Event is wonderfully crafted and readers will easily connect with the characters. Sarah and her brother, Germaine, are characters that young readers will adore. I loved their courage, the connection they share with each other, and how they evolved through the story. Great prose, a compelling and masterfully developed plot, and exciting action! It was an awesome and satisfying read!”

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

 

 

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Cold Pasta Shrimp Salad With Roasted Green Anaheim Chile Pepper

A had a few leftover corn on the cob after Memorial Day and decided to come up with a new recipe to use them. After pondering ingredient options, I came up with my, wife and son approved, easy recipe for Cold Pasta Shrimp Salad with Roasted Green Anaheim Chile Pepper. Having just barbecued up a storm, rather than grilling shrimp, I bought ready to eat shrimp cuz … this is an easy recipe.

Easy Recipe

recipe serves 4

Ingredients:

24 medium size shrimp.

13 grape tomatoes – halved.

8 oz medium size pasta shells.

1 and 1/2 ears of corn – use knife to slice corn from cob.

1 Green Anaheim Chile Pepper.

2 cloves of garlic – minced.

1/2 of large shallot – diced.

1/8 cup of flat leaf parsley – chopped.

2 oz jar of diced pimentos.

Juice of one lemon.

1/4 cup quality extra virgin olive oil (such as California Olive Ranch).

Grated parmesan cheese.

Preparation:

In large pot prepare pasta as directed on packaging. When pasta is ready (don’t overcook) drain water in colander and rinse pasta with cold tap water to stop the cooking.

Using metal tongs, place the Anaheim pepper on a grate of a gas burner or BBQ at medium heat and rotate pepper every couple minutes until nicely chard.

Remove from burner and set the pepper aside as it cools. Once cool to touch, slice the pepper open, remove seeds, and chop the pepper.

Rinse the fully cooked shrimp.

To a large bowl add shallot, flat leaf parsley, corn, Anaheim pepper and diced pimento.

In a small mixing bowl combine olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Add the olive oil mixture to the vegetables, stir. Next add the shrimp and gently stir.

Add the cold pasta and grape tomatoes to the bowl with the other ingredients, sprinkle with some grated parmesan cheese  and then stir to mix. Finally, sprinkle a little more grated parmesan cheese on top of the finished pasta salad.

And that’s all there is to making a great family meal!

Good Eating and Table Talk,

Roger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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