Monday, August 4, 2008

Menu Plan Monday

I love reading other people's lists, and I've really been enjoying reading menus that people are posting through Menu Plan Monday, so I've decided to join in. Here's what's on the table this week:

Monday: Gemelli with white beans, artichoke hearts and spinach

Tuesday: Sausage, tomatoes and rice, served with cornbread (a great, easy meal)

Wednesday: Spaghetti pie

Thursday: Leftover spaghetti pie

Friday: Black bean quesadillas

Saturday: Pizza (homemade for me and the man; Domino's for the kids)


Because everyone needs a fast meal, I'll share the Sausage and Rice recipe. You'll need:

8 oz. kielbasa-style sausage, pre-cooked (I usually get turkey sausage to cut down on fat)
15 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 cups cooked rice (brown rice if you've got the time)
1 onion
1-2 cloves garlic
olive oil

Because I prefer brown rice, a lot of times I'll cook it beforehand, say, in the morning while I'm puttering around, and then stir it in with the sausage and tomatoes to heat it up before serving. Otherwise, start cooking white rice as you're chopping everything up.

So: chop up your onion and garlic (whole onion if you're an onion lover; half if the kids and the man tend to pick out what they find to be excessive amounts of onion). Saute the onion until it's clear, then throw in the garlic and cook it for a minute or so. Next, slice your sausage ((I usually halve it lengthwise, then cut into 1/4" slices) and throw it in with the other stuff. Even though the sausage is cooked, I like to brown it a bit, just to get the skin a little bit crackly if at all possible.

Next, dump in the tomatoes, juice and all. Add a little salt, a little pepper to taste, and some oregano if you want to get fancy about it. Heat everything through. When the rice is done cooking, mix that in with the sausage and tomatoes. That's it! Dinner's done in fifteen minutes.

I usually serve this with broccoli. Cornbread is good, too (I get the Jiffy brand mix, which is now a startling fifty-nine cents, up from a quarter just a few years ago).

5 comments:

Tracy said...

We tasted some kind of spanish sausage for the first time recently and all loved it. I think it would go perfectly in that recipe. You're right ~ everyone needs and quick & easy back up meal and that is a really good one that's pretty healthy as well.

Left-Handed Housewife said...

The last time I made this, I had some chorizo sausage on hand and used that in place of turkey kielbasa. Fabulous! We tend to stay clear of really hot/spicy food, but the chorizo worked really well in this recipe.

Kora Hart said...

I made the sausage and rice recipe tonight. The man was skeptical but went back for seconds. Thanks for the super easy recipe even the pickiest eater I know loved!

Left-Handed Housewife said...

I'm so glad you all enjoyed it! I made it tonight using tomatoes from our garden--very nice!

Laura said...

Welcome to MPM! Thanks for joining us :)