greg cooks

nourishing the body

chicken sausage

Four Courses

I was inspired reading food blogs to make a light and healthy multi-course dinner that would please the palate but not pack on the pounds. I think I succeeded.
First up: Tomato and Rhubarb Salad with Taragon

This salad exceeded all my expectations. For two servings I used one half of a tomato, chopped, and two thin stalks of celery. To this was added a couple tablespoons of fresh French tarragon – the kind that has that nice anisey bite to it. A couple tablespoons of olive oil, a splash of rice vinegar, a sprinkle of sugar, salt and pepper and that was all it took to create this salad. I served it on a bed of shredded romaine lettuce. The tarragon married beautifully with the tomato and rhubarb.
Second course: Eggplant and Tomato over Shiratake Tofu Noodles
I have fallen in love with Shiratake noodles. They are made from soybeans, have very low carbs and essentially no calories (20 per serving). I took one Asian eggplant and the other half of that tomato and stewed it up with salt, pepper and garlic. I added a splash of balsamic vinegar and finished the dish with fresh oregano.
Third course: Chicken and Herb Sausage with Sprouted Peas and Carrots

I have been experimenting with sprouts lately. One of the things I have discovered are the dried green and yellow whole peas from my local Indian market sprout beautifully. I just soak them overnight in water, drain them and then rinse the peas two or three times a day. After a few days the start to show their roots. I love them at this stage. They are not quite as sweet as a fresh pea but not as starchy as the dried peas. They are alive and the starches are being acted upon by enzymes to convert the starch to the plants food, sugar. They cook up nicely. This dish was a simple sauté of the peas, carrots and sausage. What really made the dish was the addition of dried chipotle pepper. It provided a wonderful spicy smokiness that tied it all together.
Last but not least: Spicy Garlic Shrimp and Soba

I just threw together some shrimp, garlic, commercial chili flakes in oil, salt and pepper and flash sautéed them. Just as the shrimp were about done I threw in cooked soba noodles and tossed them all together in the pan. YUMMY!
Hope you enjoyed this. You CAN make great tasting food without the fat and calories.

Squash Risotto with Chicken Sausage

Hello dear cooking blog. Please accept my apologies for being away for so long. But I am back and I thought this dish would help make up for my long absence. I just love a nice savory stick to your ribs risotto. While I was rummaging through the fridge looking for something to throw together for dinner I spied some leftover roasted squash. I am growing weary of the typical squash soup and thought maybe I could incorporate this into some risotto. Yes! I still have some decent fresh sage in the garden – a perfect match with squash. And for some protein I have these delicious chicken sausage with asiago cheese and spinach in the freezer. Perfect!

I made a chicken broth with water and some Korean chicken dashi powder. Not quite homemade but it will do in a pinch for this dish. Altogether it was about 7 cups of broth. I chopped up a medium onion and sauteed it in a hot pan with olive oil. Once they were softened I added about 2.5 cups of Korean rice. I use this rice for everything. It has a fair amount of starch which lends itself well to risotto if you don’t rinse it. I tossed in the rice, some chopped garlic and some sliced fresh sage. I started slowly adding the broth with stirring over the next 15 minutes. I added some frozen peas for a touch of sweetness and color and added a pound of the chicken sausage. Cooking was continued for another 5 minutes or so until the rice was the perfect texture – not too soft and not to crunchy. It was nicely savory and really filling

Chicken sausage with peppers and cannellini beans

When I moved from California to the Fargo-Moorhead area way back in 1996 there was a great little Italian restaurant in Dilworth, MN that I used to frequent. It was called Paisano’s, had a nondescript decor and was situated in, of all places, a Howard Johnson’s motel. Although the casual atmosphere was nothing to write home about they had a dish on their menu that was absolutely scrumptious. It was a chicken dish served with peppers, sausage with a tangy bean sauce. If I recall correctly it was called country chicken and peppers but I may be mistaken. Sadly, Paisano’s closed many years ago but I still remember this hearty delicious dish.

Inspired by the Paisano’s dish I created a chicken sausage and peppers meal with cannellini beans. It is lighter than the meal from the restaurant as that one was swimming in butter.

Ingredients:
2-4 chicken sausages (I used 2)
1 red bell pepper, 1 green bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
4-5 chopped pepperoncini peppers
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium carrot chopped
8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste
1 19 oz can of cannellini beans with liquid
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp fresh tarragon
salt and pepper to taste



I started this dish by sautéing the carrots and onions in a little olive oil, salt and pepper for about five minutes, just until tender. The dried oregano was added at this point. I then added the garlic and peppers to the pan and cooked them down for another few minutes. Next I added the chicken sausage and the beans with their juice along with the fresh tarragon. The pan was covered and this was simmered for 4-5 minutes until everything was heated through and the flavors were married. The lemon juice was added at the end of cooking and everything stirred together well.
I ate this dish as is but it would be terrific with some good crusty country Italian bread.

Chicken sausage and beans

I actually made this dish during Mardi Gras week but am only just now getting around to blog about it. It was Cajun inspired and thrown together at the last minute for a quick meal. This has some sliced chicken sausuage, red kidney beans, carrots, onions and garlic. I flavored it with some Old Bay seasoning and red chili powder. Some tomato paste and chicken broth helped create a wonderfully flavorful sauce to cook everything in.