Don’t forget that Pennywise Platter Thursday is starting up again tomorrow!And thanks to everyone for the very helpful advice yesterday. I am so thankful.
The other day I needed to make dinner and hadn’t a firm plan of action for it. Looking in my refrigerator, I found a few Italian sausages, some drumsticks and brussel sprouts. As many of you know (as you’ve mentioned it), brussel sprouts are amazing when roasted. And it was in the midst of trying to figure out how to roasted my sprouts and bake my meat at the same time when I had a lightbulb moment.
Roast them all together.
Of course! I have been experimenting with one dish meals recently, and love not only the easy clean up but also the full flavor. In this case, the meats flavor the vegetables, and the vegetables the meat. The result is a simple meal and I am all for that!
One of the best ways to save money is to use what you have on hand to make dinner. It can be creative remakes of leftovers, or the gathering of random ingredients to create a new dish. Many of the recipes on this site where created out of necessity. With dinner looming in the near future, I often threw together ingredients and discovered a favorite new dish. I think that it takes real skill to be able to use what you have on hand to make delicious meals (just think of all of those cooking shows where they make chefs combine unusual ingredients in a meal on the fly). It’s a skill I am still working on. But what a great skill to have!
So, I am going to give the recipe as I made it. But please feel free to adapt it to what you have on hand. Oh, and by the way, the next day I reheated the leftovers by frying it in a little ghee. So good.
- 4 cups of brussel sprouts, washed and cut in half
6 potatoes (peeled or unpeeled, your choice), cubed into cubes about the size o the brussels sprouts
4-6 drumsticks and/or sausages of your choice
2-4 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2-In a large casserole dish, mix the brussel sprouts and the cubed potatoes. Place the meat on top. Drizzle olive oil over the top and salt and pepper generously. Stir, so that the oil and salt and pepper coat everything.
3-Place in the middle of the oven and roast for about 45 minutes, until the meat is cooked and the vegetables are soft and slightly browned. (Stir one time in the middle of the cooking time).
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I have these things in my fridge! Thanks! I’ll be making it tonight!
Great idea! I’ve been doing something similar with my crock pot lately (throwing a roast or whole chicken and whatever vegetables I have on hand, plus a few herbs). I hadn’t thought about doing it in the oven.
Hi Kimi,
Sounds yummy! I am doing the Master Cleanse but can’t wait to try this dish in February. The Italian Sausage sounds like it will add a wonderful flavor to the veggies.
I have a question. One of my goals this year is to use sourdough baking, another is to use sprouted grains. Does the sourdough process take the place of sprouting your wheat for bread? Also, does anyone know a source of sprouted whole wheat berries? A source that will sell in bulk to cycle through my food storage pantry?
Thanks for your help,
Jeannie
Hi Jeannie,
Yes, I either sprouted my flour or make sourdough with regular whole wheat flour. It’s a little redundant (and more expensive!) to use sprouted flour in sourdough, though I know of some who do.
If you look at my resource page, you will be able to find a great source for sprouted flour. If you need a sourdough starter, the place I buy from is also on my resource page.
Happy sprouting and baking!
Hi Jeannie- I just finished up my 14 day master cleanse- just wanted to say hang in there!
Thanks Kim. Looks delicious!
Jeannie, i buy organic wheat and spelt berries from http://www.azurestandard.com. They have great prices. And i ‘think’ that sprouted berries used to make flour can take place of sourdough baking. Or you can do both…i think. I sprout my own berries, dry them, then grind them to make my own sprouted flour.
This looks so delicious!
Piercing the sausage with a fork helps enhance the flavor. (We make this dish and my husband really likes it.)
Haven’t tried it using the brussel sprouts though, thanks for the recipe Kimi.
Sounds so good! I am totally going to do this.
This is a complete meal! Meat and vegetables in one! I really like those dishes that do not require me to become a pure veggie in one dish and pure meat.
This is an awesome recipe! I agree brussels sprouts are amazing roasted! I love this way of cooking – my blog is based upon this principle of cooking and eating!
Oven roasted brussel sprout are awesome. For Christmas dinner I roasted some Cornish hens on a bed of roasted brussel sprouts, onions, carrots, celery root, and garlic. It was a big hit. For those of you who have not tried celery root, it tastes, to me, like a cross between a potato and a mild onion.
I love oven roasted brussel sprouts, too. They’re equally fabulous pan roasted and are perfect with meat.
Yum! We do this all the time too . . . I think some of the drippings from the meat also always make the roasted veggies so much better . . . plus there is only one pan to clean up!
Best,
Sarah
We make a variation on this all the time – my guys LOVE it!
First I cube the potatoes, coat in olive oil, s&p, and get them in the preheating 425 oven to begin roasting while I chop up everything else. Then I chop up the other “hard/thick” veggies – carrots, turnips, sweet pots, etc. Take the pan(s) out, add new veggies, stir together, back in oven. Then I add whatever else I have on hand – mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, whole garlic cloves, etc and sliced kielbasa. Since all these brown quickly, I add them last.
Since I make 3 large jelly roll pans at a time, I stir and rotate oven positions so they all cook evenly. Smells wonderful and my teens love a fried egg on top.
Great way to use up “past their prime” fresh veggies.
Thanks for the recipe. We made this dish for Sunday Supper. The whole family liked it, kids included. Brussels sprouts are a new veggie for us so there was a little need for ketchup by the kids..hahah.. but they said “they think they may like them”.
We keep the recipe simple like stated. We cut up our Italian sausage into bite size chucks.
I know that this in a late comment but I have a question about cooking sausage from grass fed animals. The last time that I attempted to cook any, I totally ruined it. I simmered it in a skillet with a litte water but the juices were building up and started squirting out, so I decided to poke several holes in the sausage while it finished cooking. Well all that did was let all of the yummy juice cook right out. They came out dry and tough. I want to try roasted as you described above but I’m afraid of messing up again. I fear that if I don’t poke any holes, then grease will splatter everwhere, (dangerous!), and that if I do poke holes, I’ll get dry sausage and extra greasy veggies. I would LOVE to hear how others cook their pastured sausages. I really feel like I don’t know what I’m doing but I also really want to master this at some point.
I did this with real pork sausage and it was fabulous! So hearty and yummy on a winter’s evening. thanks!