Sunday Dinner and Leftovers

Sunday I made a tasty, improvised soup with sausage, beans, and spinach. Other than chopping up a bunch of vegetables, it was very easy. And I made my favorite pop-overs to go with the soup.

Sausage and Bean Soup

1 small onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz turkey kielbasa, sliced thin
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) cannelloni beans
6 cups chicken broth
1 sweet potato, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tspn Italian seasoning
pinch rubbed sage
1 tspn salt
Pepper
3-4 oz chopped spinach

1. Saute onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add kielbasa and cook until sausage is slightly browned.
2. Add rest of ingredients. Cook until potatoes are soft.
3. Add spinach.
4. Serve with grated Parmesan.

No-Beat Popovers

I found this recipe last year on www.recipezaar.com and make it frequently. I usually forget to add the salt, but it really is better with salt. You won't find a simpler pop-over recipe. I served this with homemade honey-butter.

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tspn salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix together ingredients. Pour into pop-over pan (you could probably use a regular muffin pan, but the baking time will likely differ).
3. Bake for 30 minutes.

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On Monday, I mixed the rest of the sausage with a package of Asparagus Risotto from Trader Joe's. For a side dish, I made a dish out of escarole. I had bought a head of it to put in Sunday's soup, but when I got home, I wasn't sure if it actually was escarole - I thought it might just be lettuce. I looked it up on the Internet today and realized that I had indeed purchased escarole, so I found a recipe to use it.


Sauteed Escarole, adapted from a recipe on www.recipezaar.com. The balsamic vinegar adds a lot to the dish. Don't leave it out.

1 onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 head escarole, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 tspn salt
pinch red pepper flakes
Balsamic vinegar

1. Sautee onion and garlic over low heat until soft.
2. Add escarole, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high until escarole is wilted.
3. Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar to taste. Add more salt and pepper as necessary.