It’s sausage week

I feel like I’m on a meat-themed version of Great British Bake-Off every time I enter the kitchen, imagining Sue Perkins announcing “It’s sausage week.”

Actually I’m just eating a lot of sausages.

Back in November, I attended a charcuterie event with mixed results. It was a lovely evening, but I struggled with various things—the noise and light, even though it was a relatively quiet event with gentle lighting; and various shoulder-related struggles.

The same crew recently hosted a sausage-making class, which I had wanted to attend for ages and quietly campaigned for, so when it was announced in January I had to get a ticket. I anticipated with a mixture of excitement—because surely I’d be better by late February, right?—and dread that it would be overwhelming and lead to more regression.

Happy to say I got through it! No candles this time, hooray. And no loud clappers. And no sling for me to contend with! We worked in groups of two, and most people were very focused on kneading their meat and filling their casings, so not too much “hubbub.”

And, I came home with sausages! Guess what I’ve been eating every day this week (paired with various Odd Bunch veg).

Maple-5-spice sausage with enoki mushrooms and sesame-miso dressing

Bratwurst with rutabaga “fries”

Chorizo with guacamole, roasted tomato salsa, and corn chips

Toulouse sausage with green salad

The rutabaga fries were not bad! It’s definitely one of those what-do-I-do-with-this vegetables, but other than being annoying to peel, pretty easy to prepare this way.

Rutabaga Oven “Fries”

Ingredients:

1 rutabaga
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika

Directions:

Cut the rutabaga in half. This is the hardest part! To say this thing is sturdy would be an understatement. 

Once you have two halves that will sit flat and not roll around, it gets easier. Cut each half into slices, about ⅜” to ½” thick. Peel each of these using a paring knife (It’s much easier to peel the individual slices than the whole thing, and you’ll need a proper knife, not a peeler). 

Once peeled, cut each slice into sticks about ⅜” to ½” wide.

Toss with oil to coat. Season with salt and paprika and toss again to coat evenly.

Arrange in a single, well-spaced layer on a baking sheet (I did a half-recipe to start, and needed a full-sized sheet). 

Bake at 425° f for 35 minutes. Just enough time to make a bit of salad and cook a sausage!

Odd Bunch recipe: stuffed spaghetti squash

Part of the reasoning behind getting a veg box—aside from the obvious being unable to carry stuff or go shopping easily—is to challenge myself to eat a more varied diet instead of falling back on old standbys.

Spaghetti squash is something I enjoy when I have it, but rarely think of buying for whatever reason. In the past I’ve mainly done basic things like the classic roast, scoop, toss with garlic butter and goat cheese. Not having any goat cheese, I thought I’d look at recipes. I found one that used a couple of things I had on hand—Italian sausage, cherry tomatoes—and a couple of things I didn’t, notably kale. But, I did have broccoli. Close enough, right? It also was for a much larger number of people than I or my ingredients were suited for. So, I borrowed the inspiration, and made up my own thing.

Stuffed spaghetti squash

Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash
1 tbs olive oil
1 Italian sausage
1 broccoli crown
10 cherry tomatoes
Parmesan cheese 

Directions:

Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Brush with olive oil and place cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake 35 minutes at 400°F.

Meanwhile, crumble the sausage and brown the meat in a pan. 

Cut the broccoli into florets and add to the pan. Add a bit of olive oil if it seems dry. Sauté a few minutes.

Slice the tomatoes in half and add to the pan. Pour ¼ cup of water in the pan and simmer until the water is mostly gone and the tomatoes have softened.

Flip over the roasted squash halves, fill the cavities with the sausage mixture, and sprinkle grated parmesan cheese over top. Return to the oven for 10 minutes to melt the cheese and make sure everything is hot through.

Survival tips: the veg box

So back in ye olden days (a couple months ago) I used to do my grocery shopping on foot. Kiddo and I would walk to the store on Sunday afternoon with four canvas bags (one for each shoulder) and load up. Shopping this way saves money and reduces impulse purchases because at a certain point you realise, “If the basket is getting too heavy to carry around the store, imagine what this will feel like walking home.” When kiddo moved away for school, my grocery shops got somewhat more random (the kid being the one with the muscles and particularity about food) and I would grab things on my way to and fro, or see what looked interesting at the greengrocer. 

Now of course I’m not going anywhere or carrying anything, so I decided to investigate getting a veg box delivered, like we used to back in the pandemic.

The one we used to get is no more, sadly. We used to get the Good Food Box, a social enterprise run by Foodshare. They no longer do that. So, I investigated other options: the ones that popped up when I was searching for the Good Food Box, the ones whose trucks I see driving around town, etc. 

Eventually, I ended up at Odd Bunch. I love it!

The Odd Bunch box for one

Firstly, it was the only service I came across that had a box for one. Other sample boxes started at two people, and although I thought about seeing if I could get it delivered only every second week (which we did with the Good Food Box), seeing sample box contents made me think, “No way am I gonna get through that many potatoes.” It’s a very reasonable size for a single!

It’s also fantastic value. I did the math last week, just to see, while I was ordering some groceries from Voilà (coffee filters, gallon of milk) and the savings are amazing:

4.99	1 acorn Squash
2.49	3 Local Cippolini Onions
4.99	15 Local Brussels Sprouts
3.98	2 Local Sweet Potatoes
2.99	1 bunch Radish
3.47	3 Local Pears
3.99	Cherry Tomatoes
2.58	2 cobs Fresh Corn
7.99	1 Fresh Pineapple
2.99	1 eggplant
TOTAL: $40.46 at Voilà

Fully a 50% saving!

Mind you, I am still finding it something of a challenge to get through the whole thing, but I think as much as anything that’s because I have a reduced appetite due to not going anywhere or doing anything. Right now my mouth is on fire from trying to finish off a whole fresh pineapple. But, I was never a pineapple eater before, so if nothing else it has introduced variety into my diet, as well as fibre! 

Recipes: lemon chicken and chard salad

Here are a couple of recipes from our picnic the other day. These worked well as they were quick to prepare before we left to go swimming (I made the salad while the chicken was in the oven), and since the chard needs to sit and wilt a bit anyway, we didn't have to worry about it getting yucky the way a regular lettuce salad would.

Apparently chard salad is a “thing” now. I was looking for chard salad recipes simply because we had a bunch in our veg box and I didn't want to cook, but apparently it is trendy according to some blogs at least!

Quick baked lemon chicken and potatoes

Ingredients:

1 lemon
1 tbs dried tarragon
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tbs olive oil
3 chicken legs, skin on
4 small new potatoes

Instructions:

Zest and juice the lemon into a shallow baking dish. Add herbs and oil, stir to combine.

Cut chicken legs into thighs and drums. Remove any clumps of chicken fat and set aside. Slash the skin on the thighs. Add to the lemon and herbs, toss to coat. Set aside.

Wash potatoes and cut into wedges.

Remove chicken from marinade and place on a rack that will fit over the baking dish. Add the potatoes to the marinade, toss to coat. Add the reserved chicken fat. Place rack on top of dish of potatoes.

Bake at 425°F for 40 minutes, turning potatoes twice.

Chard salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch swiss chard
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
¼ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup roasted sunflower seeds
salt to taste

Instructions:

Tear the chard leaves from stems, rinse well. Cut into ribbons and rinse again. Spin dry.

Combine chard with oil and lemon in salad bowl. Work the oil and lemon into the greens with your hands. Cover with a damp paper towel and let rest 30 minutes or more.

When ready to serve, toss with seeds, berries, and salt.

Sweet potato, white bean, and Swiss chard soup

Thought it would be a good time to look up all my recipes for the toothless, and realised I have almost nothing posted here! Whoops. I thought I had posted a bunch of recipes when I first got my braces, and had difficulty eating anything. Will definitely start moving a bunch over from my other blog, which is more about crafty stuff and has many tasty, crunchy, chewy, unhealthy recipes besides.

For a start, here is something I will be making this weekend. This weekend is going to be a soup extravaganza! Also thinking about borscht and squash/pear soup (based on what’s rotting in the fridge, and what’s coming in our next veg box).

Sweet potato, white bean, and Swiss chard soup

Ingredients:

½ cup dry small white beans (I think they were navy beans?)
a sprig of fresh rosemary
1 onion, chopped
3 or 4 small sweet potatoes (mine were kind of small—you need enough to make about 2 cups mashed
4 big cloves of garlic
1 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper
1 bunch swiss chard, rinsed, ribs cut out, and roughly chopped
4 cups stock (chicken, veg, whatever—I used vegan onion bouillion cubes)

Instructions:

Combine the beans with rosemary and onion in a stock pot, cover with lots of cold water. let soak for 6+ hours (overnight works)

Cut sweet potatoes into chunks of about an inch maximum. Toss with garlic and olive oil in a baking dish; season with salt & pepper. Bake for 1 hour at 325°F.

While potatoes are roasting, simmer the beans over low heat. About 5 minutes before the potatoes will be ready, add the chard.

Mash the cooked potatoes; add to the stock and puree until smooth. Drain the beans/chard, pick out the rosemary, add the potatoes/stock to the beans.

Cook all together over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

Something proactive

We signed up for delivery of an organic veg box, and the first one came today! Great inspiration to get creative with produce.

Tonight, I made a salad of red leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, and baby sweet peppers, to go with pizza with a home-made organic whole-wheat crust, topped with tomato, rapini, Rowe's farm Italian sausage, and organic mozzarella.

Then I spent about ten minutes with the water pik getting it all out of my braces. Can’t wait to get these things off! 10 more days!

eta: I figured out what turbos are!! They are the weird blobs on the back of my front teeth. Can’t wait for them to be gone.

Pizza (serves 4)

Ingredients:

crust:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp yeast
1 tbs salt
1⅝ cup water
2 tbs olive oil

topping:
½ bunch rapini
2 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 Italian sausages
½ cup tomato sauce of your choosing
2 cups shredded mozzarella

Instructions:

crust:
In the morning, combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in water and olive oil. Cover (I use a butter wrapper, but you could use waxed paper or oiled foil or a damp tea towel) and leave somewhere warm for 8 or 10 hours.

topping:
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and add the rapini. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain.

Crush the garlic and sauté gently in olive oil. Add the drained rapini to the pan, and toss with the oil. Cook 5 minutes over medium heat, then scoop all into a bowl and set aside.

Add the sausages to the pan, and cook over low heat 10 or 15 minutes, till cooked thoroughly. Slice into coins just under ¼” thick. set aside.

assembly:
Knead dough lightly for about 2 minutes then roll out to cover a 14” pizza pan. Prick all over with a fork. Combine rapini and tomato sauce, spread over crust. Top with cheese and sausage.

Bake for 20 minutes at 450°F. Yum! Lots of nourishment in there too—one serving has more than 16 grams of fibre and 36 grams of protein. Go whole wheat!