RERUNS AND RECIPES

It’s June!

As the weathermen tell us, it’s the beginning of meteorological summer. As I type this draft from Chicago the temperature is 48 degrees. Not a hot town, summer in this city so far. But really, it’s gonna get warmer soon, surely it will. (And it did, as I finished the article it was 77 degrees and sunny. If you don’t like the weather in Chicago, stay there. It WILL change.)

Summer can mean only two things:

1) Reruns and reality shows on TV.
2) What the heck can I cook for dinner that’s quick and easy?

Luckily for the Wedwand readers it’s time for our feature, “Food on the First” week of the month.

Today’s quick and easy summer recipe is:

TRI COLOR PEPPERS AND SAUSAGE SKILLET

INGREDIENTS

3 Peppers, (Pick 3, or use all 4 if you are feeling daring) … 1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Orange and/or 1 yellow
2 smoked sausage links (they usually come in packages of 2.)
Olive Oil

Optional ingredients:
Garlic powder, Ground Pepper, that’s it. Make it quick and easy.
A potato or two or three or four, depending on how easy you want to make it. I used one.
Maybe 1 cup prepared brown rice

DIRECTIONS

Thinly Slice the peppers

Wedwand deviates for a moment to propose this pepper paring tip.

For years, I improperly pared peppers. I’d cut the core and cull seeds. Then and only then would I slice the pepper. Seedy, messy and maddening. Peter Piper would cringe at the way I pared his pickled peppers, if his pickled peppers I would pare.

However, my pepper paring experience changed when I went to a live cooking demonstration at our local library, you never know what your local library has to offer.

This is what I learned at the library:

Stand the pepper upright, like this:

Slice a vertical strip down the broadest side of the pepper, like this:

Continue around the four faces of the pepper until nothing remains but the stem and the core, like this:

Back to the recipe.

Slice the quadrant of peppers you have prepared into slices.
Sauté the peppers slices in the olive oil over medium high heat. (At this point, you may add the optional potatoes)

Slice the smoked sausage into ¼ inch strips.

Add smoked sausage to the sauté mix after 5-10 minutes and continue cooking until the sausage has browned.

The smoked sausage comes in a package that looks like this:

Bang, Dinner is done. If you made the rice, serve over rice. If you used multiple potatoes, you need no rice.

Now, Wedwand has always been a proponent of using what you got. (1)

If you save the leftovers here’s a breakfast idea. We call it the Rerun Recipe. (2)

Scramble some eggs and just before they seem fully cooked, add the leftover Tri Pepper Skillet mix. Stir and cook until done.

Another bang. A tasty breakfast treat.

If you try this, let me know how it works for you. Thanks for reading!

FOOTNOTE:
(1) Using whatcha got was first mentioned here: https://wedwand.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/usin-whatcha-got/

(2) Definition: Rerun recipes are a base recipe that you can use as a secondary recipe for another meal. Pretty sure that’s a Wedwand original, so if you use the term, please footnote this fine blog o mine