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.