Turkey
Ok, so I don’t have a picture of the uncarved turkey from our thanksgiving. I guess we were all to hungry!
I used the Turkey Perfect brine (I could not find the brine ingredients that I was looking for). I did half apple juice and half water, instead of just water. I followed their instructions for cooking the turkey and he turned out great! I hope to make my own brine next year (with more planning ahead) but I would use their mix again.
Sausage Bean Casserole
Misha and I were in the mood for something easy and simple, and since it has been cooling off a bit lately I thought that this would be the perfect time for this dish.
Sausage Bean Casserole
Adapted from and a cookie for dessert.
Ingredients
1 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium)
1 (16 oz) package light smoked turkey sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth (low sodium, fat-free)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons tomato paste (somehow the whole 6 oz can was used, so I just upped the brown sugar a bit to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon mustard (I added)
3 (16 oz ) cans cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 bay leaf (omitted)
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional, omitted)
3 slices white bread (I used breadcrumbs
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (omitted)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat (this recipe uses a dutch oven, but since I don’t have one I used a saucepan and a casserole dish).
- Coat pan with cooking spray.
- Add onion and turkey sausage to pan, saute for 5 minutes or until browned.
- Add garlic and saute for another 2 minutes.
- Stir in chicken broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.
- Stir in brown sugar, tomato paste, thyme, pepper, beans, bay leaf, and mustard. Add ground red pepper, as desired.
- Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat.
- Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Place bean mixture in casserole dish.
- Sprinkle breadcrumbs over bean mixture, and lightly coat with cooking spray.
- Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until browned.
- Discard bay leaf.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
I missed the spinach that Brooke added, so I think that I will add that next time for a little extra nutrition. This dinner hit the spot and was perfect. We even made more the next night. This recipe is on our list of easy weeknight meals. A perfect meal for a cold day in Southern California.
