Italian Sausage Scramble
Italian sausage scramble.
With the busyness of school, life and work, dinner planning is tough sometimes. Specifically, on nights that Jesse and I both get home at 8 p.m. On these nights, if we don’t have leftovers or something in the slow cooker, dinner is almost always a scramble. It’s fast, easy and always satisfies. Sometimes, due to similar reasons, I make a scramble for myself at lunchtime as well. The other day, I whipped up this little gem. The addition of the marinara makes it extra special and takes it to a whole other level. Feel free to add additional veggies or swap out the kale for something else. That’s another beautiful thing about this scramble…it’s so versatile.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 tsp garlic and herb grass-fed butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 good-quality Italian chicken sausage, sliced (Applegate makes good ones)
- 2-3 fresh kale leaves, torn and stemmed
- 2 pastured eggs, beaten
- 1/3 cup good quality marinara sauce (make sure it’s unsweetened)
- 2 Tbsp full-fat coconut milk
- Pepper to taste
- Avocado for serving, optional
Directions:
- Melt the butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced sausage and minced garlic, and saute a few minutes, until sausage is browned.
- Next, add the chopped kale and saute 30 seconds more. Then, beat the eggs together with the coconut milk, and add to the pan with the marinara. Stir and season to taste with pepper.
- Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until scramble is cooked through.
- Serve with sliced avocado, if desired.
Yields: 1 serving
Simple Supper Friday: Chicken Spaghetti Soup
Chicken spaghetti soup.
The night I made this soup, I asked Jesse what he wanted for dinner. He suggested spaghetti squash with meat sauce, but I told him I didn’t feel like spaghetti. We’d been having it for dinner quite a bit and I felt like I needed a break. What’s funny, is that the recipe I whipped up is basically a thinner and soupier spaghetti sauce with squash noodles mixed in. Hence the name, spaghetti soup. So, I ended up eating a variation of spaghetti anyway. I guess I must have wanted it unconsciously.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed ghee
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 cup sliced crimini mushrooms
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large carrots, grated
- 1.5 cups frozen kale
- 2 cups no-sugar added marinara sauce (I used Monte Bene Spicy Marinara)
- 1 26.4 oz box Pomi chopped tomatoes (or a 28 oz can)
- 2-3 cups bone broth (or decent store bought broth/stock)
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- Red pepper flakes to taste, optional
- 1/2 large cooked spaghetti squash, scraped into strands with fork
- Italian herb-infused olive oil for drizzling, optional, but highly recommended
Directions:
- Melt the ghee in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and ground chicken. Saute a few minutes, breaking up the ground chicken with a spatula. Then, add the celery and mushrooms and continue to cook, until the meat is fully browned.
- Add the marinara sauce, tomatoes, frozen kale, grated carrots, broth and seasonings, and mix well. Bring soup to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low and let cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the cooked spaghetti squash strands and adjust seasonings if need be. Serve with Italian herb-infused olive oil drizzled on top, if desired.
Yields: 5-6 servings
Garlic Scapes and Meatballs
While in Whole Foods the other day, Jesse pointed out the basket of local garlic scapes. I’ve never bought or even eaten garlic scapes, but thought it’d be fun to give ‘em a whirl. I figured we’d both like the garlic scapes since we enjoy the mature variety — garlic spears.
I didn’t have any specific recipe in mind for the garlic scapes, so I searched good ol’ Google for ideas. Nothing really jumped out at me, but then I got the idea to make meatballs and serve them on top of sautéed garlic scapes and zucchini.
My go-to meatball recipe is foolproof and ridiculously easy. I’ve only ever made the recipe with ground turkey breast, so this time I decided to use grass-fed beef. Both are delicious, but actually, I think I like the beef meatballs even more!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb grass-fed ground beef or ground turkey breast
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- pepper to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well with hands.
- Make tablespoon-sized balls and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.
- Bake for 20 – 30 minutes.
While the meatballs were baking, I sautéed 1/2 a yellow onion and one clove of minced garlic in a pan. Then I added a jar of Cucina Antica spicy arrabbiata sauce. I love this marinara sauce because it’s pure and simple ingredients, has no preservatives or additives, and no sugar added. It’s an easy shortcut on days I don’t feel like making homemade sauce or don’t have Pomi brand diced tomatoes on hand to do so, although making homemade sauce is pretty damn easy too.
With the sauce simmering and the meatballs still baking, I got the garlic scapes going. To a heated pan, I added a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and then threw in the sliced garlic scapes. I let these sauté for a few minutes and then proceeded to add zucchini slices, sea salt and pepper. I let everything sauté together for a few more minutes and then set the burner to low to keep it warm.
After the meatballs finished baking, I tossed them into the simmering sauce. I stirred the sauce around, making sure each meatball got coated with the sauce. I served the meatballs and sauce on top of the sautéed zucchini and garlic scapes. It tasted wonderful and was a nice change from using kale or spaghetti squash (when in season) as ‘noodles.’
