Sausage Spinach Cannellini Saute
I'm on a diet {again}. That usually translates to me eating cereal or having a Nekter juice for dinner and hubby fending for himself. Lucky for him I was just too darn hungry last night and went ahead and prepared for him [us] after all. Oh, and I decided this at 6:05pm which left no extra time to put much together before he came home....or so I thought....
One note to mention, I had slow-roasted the very last four of my garden's tomatoes earlier in the week and had been saving them in the refrigerator. If you don't have time to roast the tomatoes, toss in a handful of sundried tomatoes or chop up a couple of small tomatoes and toss them in with the spinach.
Ingredients:
1/2 lb-1 lb italian sausage (I used hot, but mild will work too)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can cannellini beans
1 lemon, zested and juiced
6-8 oz fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes , OR 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes, OR 2-3 oven roasted tomatoes [recipe below]
salt, pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
Directions:
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break up the meat, if necessary. [I used bulk Italian sausage, but you could purchase links and remove the casings and it would work just as well]. Cook sausage for about 5 minutes, until browned. Turn heat down to medium, add garlic, lemon zest and juice and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add beans and continue to stir for another minute. Add spinach and allow to wilt down, stirring occasionally-about 3 minutes more. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper. Stir well, remove from heat and enjoy! {with zero guilt and extra time to spend with your family}
Slow Roasted Tomatoes
Ingredients:
tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper
crushed garlic, optional
Directions:
Slice tomatoes in half and lay in a shallow baking dish cut side up. Sprinkle with crushed garlic, if using. Drizzle tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast on Convection Roast setting at 300 degrees for 2-3 hours. The longer the tomatoes cook, the more intense the flavor will be.