Dinner in 15 minutes: chicken sausage with green beans ~ Ham Pie Sandwiches

18 May 2012

Dinner in 15 minutes: chicken sausage with green beans

Chicken sausage with green beans

John and I run a fairly minimal house. We have no tchotchkes on our shelves, no pictures on our walls; only our bookshelves are crowded. Well, our bookshelves and our freezer. Yes: I stuff the freezer with everything imaginable. Dried fruit and nuts, flours, beans and pulses of all kinds, similar varieties of grains, roasted chicken and its broth, soaked and cooked beans and their broth, the vast vegetable stockpile and its resulting broth, leftover soups and stews, yeast, tortellini, dumplings, bacon (one package can last us a year, seriously), tempeh, butter: practically anything that requires cold air for preservation is in our freezer.

Oh, and ice.

This means I can grab something from the freezer to produce nearly instant dinner. In this instance, I grabbed a frozen chicken sausage, threw it in some warm tap water to defrost, and tossed it in a pan with some green beans and spices.

Zoom! Bang! Pow! Dinner is served!

Chicken sausage with green beans

onion/shallot/garlic
olive oil
optional hot pepper
precooked chicken sausage
lots of green beans
red bell pepper
dry vermouth to deglaze
salt, pepper, basil, oregano

The proportions here are flexible. Use what you have; use as much as you like. They're your taste buds.

Saute chopped onion and/or garlic in a little olive oil. If you like hot pepper, chop that up and add it too. While the veg are softening, slice a chicken sausage per person into half-moons. Add sausage to the pan, season with salt, pepper, basil, and oregano, and cook, shaking and stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat. While things are cooking, wash, top and tail, and chop a large handful of green beans per person. After about five minutes, when the sausage is beginning to turn golden on both sides, add the green beans. Toss again and cook while you dice a red pepper; give it maybe three minutes before you dump it in the pan too. Cook another few minutes, deglazing the pan with vermouth as needed. Taste and correct seasonings.

Eat with vigor.

10 comments:

Jes said...

Something akin to that should have been my dinner last night, but I gave up and we got burgers. Sigh. One day I'll rise to the 15 min. cooking occasion! (That looks delish, btw.)

noelle said...

This has me hopingI forget what I threw (or lovingly put away) in the freezer before leaving the country, so that when I get back it will be like opening a Christmas present.

I'm also hoping you'll post a picture of your freezer someday!

Pencil Kitchen said...

Sadly, my freezer is relatively small. And most of it contains ice cream tubs waiting to be devoured and to be replaced by a new tub. Living in your kitchen would have been lovelier.

Kat said...

We've taken to freezing a lot of stuff too (including left-overs from large batches, keeps well and instant dinner when you need it).

PS - we gave up accumulating "stuff" too, the only things we can't resist are books.

Joanne said...

When i still ate meat, chicken sausage was always my go-to for getting dinner on the table quickly!

Dining Alone said...

quick and simple is what I like too, and when you live in the desert you do not want to be in the kitchen for long in the summer. this looks great!

Aylin @ Glow Kitchen said...

Green beans are one of those veggies i never warmed up to...but chicken sausage? count me in!

Anna @ the shady pine said...

A tasty and quick work day dinner...perfect for days when I'm tempted to just have toast instead.

CATE said...

I hear you... my freezer is always stuffed to the gills too. It's mostly the frozen fruit (for smoothies) and all my whole grain gluten-free flours that are to blame. OK... and a couple pints of ice cream :)

The Squishy Monster said...

I'm in love of the casual dribble of Vermouth. This sounds sublime, especially considering it's in 15!!