Easy-Parm Cheesy 15-Minute (or less) Meal

We had just come back home from a long weekend out of town the afternoon beforehand. We hadn't been to the store yet. There was nothing for dinner. Oh yeah...we were short on time as it was getting fairly late. Plus, my hubby had a meeting to be at that evening. Time was short & of the essence!

I decided I would head to the store & figure out something I might be able to do quickly. Pasta is a pretty good dinner to fit that, and the kiddos are all OK with that meal, too. So, I went shopping.

Since we try to save money, too...I headed to our local Walmart. *sigh* You know what? They were out of several things we would usually have with our bi-weekly pasta dinner. Figures. I'd already picked up many of the items, so I didn't want to put everything else back. We would use it eventually. So, even in my exhausted, welcome-back-to-reality state of mind, I had to think quickly of what I could get that I could throw together & make sure the whole family had SOMETHING! And the brain wheels began to turn...

Knorr's has started touting using their side products as main dishes. Just a few additions, badda-bing, badda-boom, badda-dinner! We have Knorr's Sides often enough & really like them! Plus...they are only $1.00 per package at Walmart. So, I stuck with the pasta idea & got the Parmesan version of the side. And then I built up a speedy quick meal that was pretty, delicious, pretty delicious, and FAST!

Here's what I did:

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EASY-PARM CHEESY 15-MINUTE (or less) MEAL

(from start to finish)

Ingredients:

~ 2 pkg Knorr's Pasta Sides: Parmesan
~ 1 pkg smoked sausage, sliced (we used turkey with a non-pork eater)
~ 1-2 red bell pepper, rinsed, deseeded & thinly sliced *
~ 1 bag green beans (to be steamed, so we got pre-packaged for time)
~ 1 loaf Italian bread from the bakery


Directions:

Read directions on the package of Knorr's; since using more than one package, use slightly less of water & milk asked for (I used 3 packages, so I tried to adjust as such)

Slice the sausage, into about 1/2 inch slices, and slice the bell pepper into strips

When placing the liquid in the large pot to begin boiling, keep an eye on it while preparing other to fix the other ingredients

Start heating a large skillet on the stove & place a table spoon of olive oil or spray with olive oil cooking spray to coat

Turn your oven on the high setting of broil, and * place your bell pepper strips in one layer on a lightly sprayed baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle with sea salt (or table salt if you don't have sea salt)

Prepare to get your green bean bag into the microwave

By now, your liquid should be boiling, your skillet should be good & hot, and your oven should be ready...

Open your Knorr's envelops & empty them into the boiling liquid, stir and let sit, but make sure to stir once in a while so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot

Place the sausage slices into the skillet for a couple of minutes. Turn them once in a while being careful not to burn them.

Put the baking sheet of bell peppers into the oven to roast for just a few minutes; turn on the oven light to keep an eye on them to make sure they don't get too dark...but you want them deliciously tender

Start your microwave & steam those green beans for about 7 minutes


OK...everything is good & going now! The pasta, sausage, peppers & green beans have all been started about the same time!

Take these 7-ish minutes to slice your bread to the thickness you desire. Unless you bought pre-sliced. If that's the case, it's one less step!

After about 5 minutes, your pasta may be good & tender (check to make sure); remove from the heat, give a quick stir & allow to set for a couple of minutes.

When the green beans are done (you'll know with the microwave probably telling you), you can turn off the heat to the skillet & pull out the bell pepper strips from the oven.

Guess what? BOOM! Dinner is DONE! The meal is ready to serve: Plate it up with a few sausage on the pasta (or you can mix them together), get some peppers & green beans on that plate, and then add a slice of bread. Bing-Bang-Beautiful!

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It seems like a lot going on up there, but prep time probably only takes 5 minutes & you can have everything else done & served up in the next 10 minutes! You may not even need the whole 15 minutes! I even made a gallon of stove-brewed tea in that time, too!

And, it's not horrible for you, either.

It smelled great, it tasted great & there were hardly any leftovers! I think it was a winner-winner-pasta dinner!!

I'm now excited to play with some more of Knorr's sides to see what I can make for another speedy-quick dinner!

Game On!

ENJOY!

Tortellini with Edamame and Smoked Sausage

Lately I've really been lazy & really looking for some cheater/fake-out recipes. But ones that are pretty, not too far off the beaten path, and still semi-good for you. I know, I know...it may be asking too much!

But am I really? Whether you like/love her or not, Rachael Ray has given way to fake-out recipes & trying to make the point that you can cheat some of the recipes, but if you watch what YOU put in it...you have more control over the ingredients that go into it, therefore, having more of a handle on the nutritional value of what you make.

I'm not gonna lie, when I made my Lazy Lasagna (recipe HERE), I wasn't keeping in mind the nutritional value, just the convenience of it. Still really good!

As I continued to search Pinterest & the rest of the interwebs for more "quick, cheap & easy" (yet elegant) meals to try with the family,  I came across a pasta dish that seemed easy enough (recipe HERE). Plus, it had edamame in it! I've been drawn to the edamame thing lately, so I was intrigued.

If you are still unaware of what edamame is, it happens to be a beautiful, sexy & attractive name for soy beans. Loaded with protein! I've actually been eating some roasted & lightly salted edamame that tastes surprisingly like mild peanuts. Seriously!

But back to the pasta dish, here's what I did:

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TORTELLINI WITH EDAMAME & SMOKED SAUSAGE

Ingredients:

~ 1 bag frozen tortellini (I used tri-color)
~ 1/2 C shelled, frozen edamame
~ 1 link smoked sausage (I used turkey), sliced or diced
~ 1/2 bell pepper (I used red), thinly sliced or diced
~ 1/4 C onion, diced OR 3 Tbsp minced onion
~ 1/2 C Italian Butter (recipe HERE - see step 2) or Italian dressing


Directions:

* Make tortellini to package directions; mine called for being in boiling water for 3-5 minutes (I lightly salted the water & added a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil - optional); I did 5 minutes - keep reading for why

* While the pasta is cooking, lightly spray a skillet or wok with cooking spray & saute the smoked sausage, bell pepper & onion

* in the last 2-3 minutes of the pasta cooking, add the edamame to the pasta water to finish out the cooking

* once the pasta & edemame are done cooking, remove from heat & drain

* mix the pasta & edamame with the sausage, pepper & onion

* when all mixed together, drizzle in the Italian butter or dressing & toss (I made the Italian butter)

* Serve

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I want you to know that this is one of the fastest & easiest dishes I have ever done! And it was beautiful!

We served it up with Italian bread. I think the whole meal took about 15 minutes with the prep! And it was really, REALLY good!!

Now, as for the edamame term, don't tell my kiddos...they think they are eating something fancy. OK? Thanks!

Now then...

ENJOY!

Adapted Authentic Dublin Coddle - Lazy Cooker

This year, for St. Patrick's Day, I had to celebrate my Irish heritage! This totally includes the food. And I'm not talking turning mashed potatoes green or serving up the completely American dish of corned beef & cabbage! I wanted something more authentic for the family to enjoy, so I found Dublin Coddle. It's Irish sausage, bacon, potatoes & onion all in a broth. I did mine in the lazy cooker & a couple of adaptations...but here's what I used:

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DUBLIN CODDLE 

(in the lazy cooker)

Ingredients:
1 lb. (Irish) Sausage* - thickly cut
1 lb. Bacon*+ - thickly sliced
1 lb. potatoes, diced/quartered (I used quartered baby potatoes in gold, red & purple)
1-2 onion(s), thickly sliced (I used 1 medium yellow onion)
4 C water OR broth/stock (ham, chicken, beef)
2 bouillon cubes (chicken or beef - if using water)
1/4 C chopped parsley
1 T salt (I used fine sea salt)
1 T black pepper

* Because we have a non-pork eater in the house, I used turkey bacon & turkey smoked sausage. I added minced garlic, dried thyme, dried rosemary & some marjoram to mimic Irish sausage.

+ I used the American version of bacon since Ireland views cured pork loin as bacon. Since we have a non-pork eater, I stuck with the turkey bacon. I also baked the turkey bacon at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, but should have done 20. Set on cooling racks resting in foil-lined baking sheets/jelly roll pans to catch the grease. Then I cut each bacon slice into slightly smaller pieces. I should have cut it into much smaller bits.

Directions:

After spraying the inside of the lazy cooker with cooking spray, place liquid in the insert. Place sausage, bacon, potato pieces & onion slices into the pot, along with bouillon cubes (if using water for your liquid). Add in all of the seasonings.

~~ I had some leftover chopped greens from another dish, so I added it to the Coddle. This could be kale, collard greens, turnip greens (you could throw in the turnip, all sliced up, too), mustard greens, etc. But the original recipe does NOT call for this!

Place the lid on the lazy cooker, make sure it's plugged in & turned onto low for 4-6 hours. (I placed on high for 1 hour, and then low for the rest of the time...and it came out great.)

Stir & serve.

You could probably add in some stout beer, like Guinness, to the pot, too!

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All I know is that the Dublin Coddle turned out to be amazing comfort food for a chilly day! I so want to do it again!

I served it with Mustard Dill slaw. It didn't turn out as great. Too much bite for us. So we may end up scrapping the mustard & dill part. I think sticking with our favorite KFC-style cole slaw will work out just fine from now on! Plus, due to timing issues, I just served a loaf of Old Style Potato bread. Meh. 

I hope to have time to make Traditional Irish Soda Bread next year. But the plate sure was pretty!

I followed up this hearty meal with my APPLE IRISH CREAM CAKE for dessert! I was so happy with this much more authentic meal!

Dublin Coddle & a slice of Apple Irish Cream Cake

This is also a challenge for you to either try Dublin Coddle or find another authentic Irish dish for St. Paddy's Day. Corned Beef is not your answer. If you like it...have it another time.

But in the meantime...

ENJOY!

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UPDATE: Made on the stovetop...

It's April 23rd, and I decided to make the coddle for lunch. It's a cold & nasty, wet day. It's a perfect day for warm comfort food. Since a couple of my potatoes were going bad before they were supposed to, I thought I'd better use 'em up. So I threw my stuff in a pot on the stove. Here's how that went:

Directions:

Since I try to make turkey smoked sausage mimic the likes of Irish sausage, and had already planned on making this dish very soon, I cut up the sausage into chunks & placed them into an airtight container with the garlic, thyme & rosemary. I punctured the sausage pieces so they could absorb the flavorings better. My original plan was to marinade it this way the night before hand, but I let it set for a couple of days...only because of family scheduling being out of whack.

I had some beef broth to use. I poured it into a large pot on the stove. I also had a couple of chicken bouillon cubes that I threw in, too. I brought it to a boil, then added parsley, salt & pepper. After letting that boil for a moment. While I let the broth boil, I cut up my potatoes & onion. 

After letting the seasonings boil for a moment, I turned the heat to mid-hi, then added the potatoes & onion slices. I, then added in the marinaded sausage. I placed about 1 cup of water in the sausage container, closed it, shook it up, and then poured the water & remaining marinade into the pot. I didn't have time to work up any bacon, so I threw in some turkey bacon bits that we had on hand.

Then I brought all of that up to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and then placed the pot's lid on top. I allowed the coddle to simmer for 45 minutes to about an hour...until the potatoes were tender.

Once the potatoes are good & tender, serve it up! YUM!