Sometimes I get so caught up in the idea that a decent meal has to require a fair amount of work in the kitchen. It’s not true at all, as I was reminded by recently reading an older New York Times article “Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less”
It’s especially not true when I still find myself at work at 8 p.m. and really, really don’t want to hit the local fast food joint.
So here’s a quick meal I made last night, which I don’t think is too horribly unhealthy and is way better than a similar dish I used to make when I was in college (I used to douse spaghetti noodles in butter with parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, which doesn’t provide much nutrition, but tasted way better than Top Ramen).
The longest part of the whole process was boiling the noodles. It’s not fancy, but it’s filling and makes for an easy meal.
Italian Sausage and Penne Pasta (recipe
follows):
8 ounces penne noodles, cooked
2-3 links Mild italian sausage, broiled, sliced into thin coins
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small, sweet, red pepper. diced
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Set water to boil and turn oven on to broil sausages. Chop vegetables while sausages are cooking and set noodles to boil. Slice sausage into coins.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Saute onions and garlic until onions start to turn translucent. Add red pepper and mushrooms, saute for about 1 min. and add parsley and sausage. Cook until mushrooms are cooked through and browning. Toss with cooked pasta and parmesan cheese. Serve.
You could probably aso make it better for you by switching out the italian sausage with turkey italian sausage, which I’ve used before but wasn’t at the grocery store last night. Sweet italian sausage would be even better tasting with the red peppers. Also, it probably could take some spinach, but I went for a side of green salad.
I made this tonight, and it turned out really good! I used turkey sausage, but took it out of its casing. For some reason, broiling intimidates me, so I just browned it instead. I used whole-wheat penne to up the fiber content.
I was dining alone tonight, so I topped off the meal with a new find: “No Pudge” chocolate brownies. It’s a brownie mix that you add nonfat yogurt to. The box has instructions for making a whole pan or a single serving. I did the single serving, and it wasn’t too bad.
Anyway, the simple meal reminded me that I could eat well even when I’m dining solo.
Wow….great recipe! I used sweet Italian sausage and fresh spinich as you suggested. I’m a garlic lover so 5 cloves for me. Thanks!