Chicken-Sausage (Turkey Kielbasa) and Asparagus saute over Cheese Grits

This is definitely the most Southern dish I've cooked yet! But I have to admit, even the grits were yummy and this interesting combo actually is quite tasty!

Chicken-Sausage (Turkey Kielbasa) and Asparagus saute over Cheese Grits
from Every Day food, adjusted to serve 4 instead of 1
Serves 4

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 precooked chicken sausage, thinly sliced on the diagonal (I used 2 large links of turkey kielbasa.)
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced (I used yellow onion.)
1/2 bunch asparagus, tough ends removed, cut into 1-inch lengths (I used a whole bunch.)
1 tsp. fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp. dried
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. grits or yellow cornmeal (I used 1 c. grits.)
2 tbsp. crumbled fresh goat cheese (I used about 1 c. sharp cheddar.)

1. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Cook sausage until browned, tossing occasionally, 1-2 minutes; transfer to a plate.
2. Reduce heat to medium. Add onions and cook until softened, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add asparagus, thyme and 1/3 c. water (I used about a cup and that was too much liquid. I would start with half a cup and add more as needed.) Cover and steam until asparagus is just tender and water has evaporated, about 6 minutes.
4. Add sausage and lemon juice, toss. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
5. In a small saucepan, bring 1 c. salt water to a boil. (I used 4 cups of liquid. 2 c. beef stock (chicken stock would work fine, too) and 2 c. water.)
6. Gradually whisk in grits.
7. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 6 minutes.
8. Stir in cheese and season with salt and pepper.
9. Serve sausage and asparagus over grits.
I topped grits with a touch of shredded cheese, too.

Honey-Glazed Chicken and Roasted Carrots with Honey

Honey-Glazed Chicken
from Good Thymes and Good Food and Everyday Food

Ingredients
Serves 4 (I cut the recipe in half - just split it down the middle)
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dried thyme
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 chicken, (about 3 pounds) cut into 8 pieces
(I just used boneless skinless breasts)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 475 (I cooked them at 450 with the carrots on the same baking sheet)degrees.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
3. In a small bowl (or glass measuring cup), whisk together honey, vinegar, thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
4. Place chicken pieces on prepared pan; brush with honey glaze to coat.
5. Roast, brushing twice with glaze (do not baste during last 5 minutes of cooking), until chicken is deep brown on the outside and opaque throughout, 20 to 25 minutes.

Roasted Carrots with Honey
Ingredients Serves 4 (I cut this in half, too)
1 1/2 pounds carrots, cut on the diagonal into 2-inch lengths and halved lengthwise if thick (I just used a small bag of baby carrots and cut them in half)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon honey

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss carrots with oil; season with salt and pepper. (I roasted them with the honey drizzled on them)
3. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
4. Remove from oven, and toss with honey (I didn't do this since I roasted them in honey).

Zucchini, Sausage, and Feta Casserole

Zucchini, Sausage, and Feta Casserole
from Cooking Light

This pasta casserole combines pantry ingredients with fresh summer produce for a hearty, family-friendly dish. Any leftovers are even better the next day as the flavors have time to meld.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)
8 ounces chicken sausage (I used as zesty habenero flavored sausage to add some kick and may try a tomato basil kind next time)
1 teaspoon olive oil
5 cups thinly sliced zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups vertically sliced onion (about 1)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt object2
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper object
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese object
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.
Cook pasta in boiling water 5 minutes, omitting salt and fat; drain.
Remove casings from sausage. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage to pan; cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from pan. Heat oil in pan. Add zucchini, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and zucchini begins to brown, stirring occasionally.
Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute. Combine zucchini mixture, pasta, sausage, and feta cheese in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

* I also sprinkled with a little olive oil when I pulled it out of the oven because the cheese dried out just a bit.

Yield
6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 284(27% from fat); FAT 8.6g (sat 4.6g,mono 1.9g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 16.9g; CHOLESTEROL 35mg; CALCIUM 160mg; SODIUM 433mg; FIBER 2.6g; IRON 2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.3g
Lia Huber
Cooking Light, JULY 2007

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This was very yummy! It reminds me of a Mexican Chili but with chicken and more flavors infused. Next time I may substitute ground turkey and see how that tastes. Friends ate almost all of it. It was a hit!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
From Good Thymes and Good Food

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
1 cup white hominy (I don't like hominy so I used chickpeas)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (omitted as I did not want to purchase a huge package of it)
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (I roasted them at 425 for about 22 minutes.)
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I had cheddar/jack and just used that.)c
hopped green onions
chopped red onion
lime juice
sour cream

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425.
Drizzle chicken with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and a little chili powder.
2. Roast chicken for 22-25 minutes. When cooked, shred with two forks.
3. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat.
4. Saute onion, carrot and celery in oil until soft.
5. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
6. Stir in chili powder, oregano and cumin. Coat vegetables.
7. Add tomatoes, broth, and water.
8. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.
9. Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, beans, cilantro, and chicken.
10. Simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top/garnish with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, chopped green onion, red onion, lime juice and/or sour cream.

Tortellini Sausage Salad

This is my new favorite salad recipe and the best way to eat raw spinach. It's yummy and has a Mediterranean flare.

Tortellini Sausage Salad
from Good Thymes and Good Food

5 T. vegetable oil, divided (I use olive oil and only about 2 1/2 - 3 tbsp.)
1 pkg. Italian sausage links (I used Kielbasa.)
1 pkg. 9 oz cheese tortilli (I used a 16 oz. bag and I could have used more)
1 6 1/2 oz. jar marinated artichokes - reserve marinade
1/2 c. black olives - sliced
1/2 c. feta, crumbled
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp. dried basil (For both the basil and the dill, fresh would be great if you have it.)
1/4 tsp. dried dill
1/4 c. green onion
1/2 c. torn/chopped fresh spinach leaves (I used a whole 5 oz. bag and chopped it roughly.)
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar (I added this)

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high and add sausage. (I cut my Kielbasa up first.)
2. Brown 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally.
3. Reduce heat and cook 8 to 10 minutes more, turning once. (I cooked it for about 10 minutes total. I also used this pan to make a sauce, don't clean it yet!)
4. Cool and cut into 1/4 inch slices.
5. Cook tortellini and drain.
6. Toss the tortellini in 1 tbsp. oil.
7. Combine tortellini, sausage, olives, feta, artichokes, green onions, and tomatoes, spinach. (I also added the olives at this point)

**This is what I did differently from the recipe. I used the pan I cooked the Kielbasa in. It had a good amount of oil it in. I added the garlic and cooked that quickly. Then I added the other seasonings and about 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar to make the marinade. I whisked that together and gathered all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. This is what I poured over the tortellini and sausage. The cooked garlic was better than raw garlic, in my opinion, and I plan it this way from now on.)

8. Which together 1/4 c. reserved marinade, 3 tbsp. oil, vinegar, garlic, basil and dill.
9. Pour over sausage mixture.
10. Refrigerate several hours. (I did not do this. I added the spinach and served immediately and it was fine)
11. Add spinach 20 minutes before serving.

Beef Pepper Steak

This was fairly quick and easy, especially because I chopped up the peppers and onion the night before.

Pepper Steak (from Good Thymes and Good Food)
Prep Time:20 min
Total Time:35 min
Makes: 4 servings

1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1 small onion, cut into strips (I used 1 medium)
1 lb. well-trimmed boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce (Omitted)
2 cups hot cooked brown rice (I used white rice because I didn't have whole wheat on hand.)
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 tbsp. butter
1/2 tbsp. flour
1/2 c. (or so) beef stock

1. HEAT large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. (I used about a tbsp. of olive oil.)
2. Add bell peppers and onions; cook and stir 6 to 8 min. or until vegetables are crisp-tender.
3. Transfer to large bowl; keep warm.
4. ADD meat, garlic and black pepper to same skillet (I added another tbsp. olive oil); cook and stir 3 min.
5. Add soy sauce; cook 1 min. or until meat is cooked through. Add barbecue sauce (omitted); cook until heated through.
6. SPOON meat mixture into bowl with vegetables; toss gently. Serve over rice.

I made a little sauce with what was left in the pan, as recommended by Good Thymes & Good Food. There was too much delicious, salty soy sauce and garlic to let it go to waste. I didn't want to just pour it over the meat and peppers. Here is what I did:
1. Add 1/2 tbsp. butter and let melt.
2. Add flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir to combine.
3. Add beef stock and bring to a slow boil til thickened.
4. Pepper to taste.
5. Serve over meat, rice and peppers. Delish! :)

Ham and Cheese Turnovers

The recipe is from Real Simple magazine. It's very easy with hardly any prep time at all and all the ingredients compliment each other very well. It's something different but just as easy as making a pizza, etc.

Ham and Cheese Turnovers

1 1-pound package refrigerated pizza dough (I used a tube of pizza dough.)
8 ounces deli ham, thinly sliced (I used Boar's Head low sodium ham - yum!)
4 ounces Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow onion, cut into thin rings
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard (I used honey mustard.)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small head romaine, torn into pieces

1. Heat oven to 400° F.
2. Roll the pizza dough into a 14-inch circle and cut into 8 triangles.
3. Stack a piece of the ham, cheese, and onion (I spread a bit of honey mustard on each triangle.) on the bottom of each triangle and roll the dough up around the filling. (Some of the filling will stick out the ends.)
4. Transfer the rolls to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
(I sprayed the parchment paper with non-stick spray.)
5. Bake until golden and crisp, about 20 minutes.
6. Combine the mustard and oil in a medium bowl and toss with the romaine.
7. Serve with the turnovers.

Make Ahead: These turnovers can be assembled, wrapped tightly, and then refrigerated up to 12 hours in advance. Once cooked, they will last for up to 5 days in the refrigerator if sealed tightly in bags or containers. Reheat in a 350° F oven until warm.

Yield: Makes 4 servings NUTRITION PER SERVING CALORIES 561(36% from fat); FAT 22g (sat 7g); PROTEIN 28g; CHOLESTEROL 48mg; SODIUM 1346mg; FIBER 3g; CARBOHYDRATE 60g