A new meat market recently opened in my town, and I can’t wait to try it. Just a few years ago, meat markets were few and far between in my area. When I was pregnant with Paige, I spent hours searching the internet for butchers and meat markets in the area, coming up with little. Lately though, that has started to change and there seems to be a resurgence of specialty food stores. With two meat markets now in town, I am excited that shopping is getting back to the way I grew up with.

When I was a little girl, my grandmother and I would hit the grocery store for staples, and then head to the meat market for whatever meat would go with dinner. There was this one market that sold all sorts of wursts — German sausages — and I loved looking at the different colors through the display case. My favorite wurst? Bratwurst, which is an off-putting gray, but delicious all the same. So, when I saw a precooked version at the grocery store recently, I picked  it up … hoping it might be like I remember (and be super fast for a busy night).

I know, it’s not what I grew up with … but it was a passable substitution until I can find a meat market that does wursts well.

In any case, it was absolutely perfect for a fast dinner, which is what I do every Monday. That’s my busy day, so I only do quick dinners on Mondays. Basically, dinner needs to come together in under 20 minutes and with minimal effort. I can’t bother with long preparations or complicated dishes on that one day. Easy is what works.

So, with easy in mind, I pulled the precooked bratwurst from my freezer. But what would I serve them with? At first I thought maybe rice. No, tortellini. No. potatoes. But then it came to me — mix them with pasta, steamed broccoli and a little garlic-infused oil. Simple. Easy. Less than 20 minutes.

This dish has simple flavors, but it just hit the spot. And not just for me — Will and Paige both went back for seconds.

What do you cook when you don’t have time?

Penne with Bratwurst and Broccoli
serves 4

1/2 lb penne or mini penne
4 precooked bratwurst links
2-3 cups chopped and steamed broccoli
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste

Boil water and cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat the bratwurst.

Once the bratwurst are heated through, slice them into 1/4 inch disks and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the broccoli and pasta to the bowl as well. Mix well. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, until just softened. Pour the garlic oil over the pasta mixture. Toss well.

Salt and pepper the pasta mixture and toss again. Serve immediately.

Yesterday afternoon/evening was, in a word, stressful. I battled bumper to bumper traffic to get to Will’s daycare by 5:30 (I got there at 5:31), which always leaves me stressed. Then it took about 15 minutes to drive the one mile or so from daycare to my house.

To ease the nerves, Will and I broke out some cheese and were sampling different varieties (more on that later) when I heard Snoopy bark. Now, I know for some dogs that’s a normal occurrence – hell, Scrappy barks all the time. But Snoopy? His bark is kind of like a big foot sighting – you think you heard it but it’s so rare that you have to listen intently for more.

More came, except it was a bark I had never heard from him before – something between a yelp and a growl. I rushed to the back door and saw a gigantic deer (like HUGE) nosing Snoopy up in the air and dropping him. It looked like it was going to charge him or something, perhaps spear him with those enormous antlers.

I ran, down the stairs and across the yard, barefoot and yelling at the beast to “GET AWAY FROM HIM.” Instead of running, it turned and started to come at me. Before I could budge or find something to throw, Scrappy came dashing outside, down the stairs and got between us. The deer went after him and nosed him to the ground too. But then, amid all my yelling (because I was still yelling) and all of Scrappy’s barking (and Snoopy’s too), it finally turned and ran off into the woods.

Now I wonder, should I be concerned about playing or cooking in my yard? I wouldn’t want Will to be attacked by the monstrous deer. I hate nature.

(Don’t worry, everyone is okay.)

I did end up cooking in my yard though last night. It was in the plan, and far be it from me to deny the plan (especially when it’s MY plan).

Anyway, I had picked up a delicious twin pack of Chef Bruce Aidells’ sausage at Costco last weekend (Mango and Sun-Dried Tomato flavors). Costco had set up a little tasting station and it was good stuff, so I grabbed a pack. It’s chicken sausage, and these flavors are gluten-free and dairy-free. Though my family isn’t on the gluten- or dairy-free track, maybe yours is. I decided to cook up some Mango for dinner last night since I am not sure that Shawn will go for the Sun-Dried Tomato.

It was delicious. And since it’s precooked, it only took about 8 minutes on the grill. How easy is that? Will loved it so much that he ate two whole links. That’s my boy!

The one funny part is that I have since discovered that the links are in fact breakfast links – LOL, but served with roasted potatoes and corn, they made a good dinner. They are larger than your typical breakfast sausage, but smaller than your average dinner sausage. Ooops.

As for the roasted potatoes? Sorry no pictures. They were simple and tasty as well, but looked a little naked to me. See, Cate (of Sweetnicks fame) and I were having a conversation about organics the other night and she went off about how non-organic potatoes are ranked high (number 10, was it?) on the list of worst non-organic produce in terms of pesticide retention. These were perfect  red potatoes, but they weren’t organic and I couldn’t get the idea out of my head. So I did something I NEVER do – I peeled them.

8 small (or new) red potatoes, peeled if they aren’t organic
2 tbsp olive oil
a generous amount of Kosher salt
a generous amount of pepper
a generous amount of paprika

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Quarter the potatoes. Place all ingredients in a plastic Ziploc bag and shake until evenly coated.

Spread potatoes out on the baking sheet and cook for 30 minutes, turning once about half way through.

This leafy green vegetable is rich in antioxidants — in fact, one cup carries 52.5% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin C. It’s also chock full of iron, potassium, Vitamin A and Vitamin K, among others.

I resisted trying this vegetable though, fearing the unknown, until I saw an interesting recipe for a pasta using it in the June 2006 issue of Gourmet (“Pasta with Kielbasa and Swiss Chard”). It’s been earmarked for months, just waiting to be used. Finally I assembled all the ingredients this week to try it out. Even my vegetable hating husband said he would be willing to try it again. Truth be told, he liked the greens but disliked the ribs. I didn’t really notice them.

In any case, this recipe, slightly adapted from the Gourmet version, was a winner that will be repeated in this Cucina Bella.

1 lb Swiss chard
1 lb kielbasa, sliced down the center and cut into 1/2 chunks
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
3/4 lb angel hair pasta
fresh grated Romano cheese

Start water boiling for the pasta.

Wash the Swiss chard under cool water. Then separate the leaves from the stems and chop each, keeping them separate. Prepare the remainder of your ingredients (cut the kielbasa and mince the garlic).

Preheat a large pot over high heat. Add kielbasa and cook, stirring frequently, until it browns lightly, about two minutes. Remove kielbasa from the pot.

Reduce heat to medium. Add the olive oil, salt and Swiss chard stems to the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes, until they are golden. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.

(You should be putting the pasta into the pot now)

Add the Swiss chard leaves to the pot with the stems. Also add the water and red pepper flakes. Stir well. Reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 5-8 minutes, until the stems are tender. Stir in the kielbasa.

Drain pasta. Toss with the Swiss chard mixture.

Serve immediately with freshly grated Romano cheese for sprinkling.

I’ve learned a lot since then. For instance, beet greens are not only edible but they really taste good as a bruschetta. And fiddlehead greens have a really unique taste and texture.

In any case, back to the kale. My husband loves Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana soup, so I decided to try making it at home. I searched the internet and found literally dozens of recipes for it. Each had things good and bad about them, so I used them as a guideline and drafted my own. It was received with rave reviews from both my husband and from the much harder to please stepson. It goes without saying that my son loved it.

ABOUT KALE:

Kale is a variety of cabbage. The kale I purchased had curly edged leaves, though there are other varieties with flat leaves and the such. Kale likes cooler weather and is grown widely in North America and Europe.

CHOOSING KALE:

Kale should have firm, deep green leaves that are free from spotting, wilting or discoloration.

STORING KALE:

Kale should be stored in cool places like the refrigerator crisper drawer, while wrapped in a lightly moist paper towel and stored in a plastic bag. It can also be frozen fresh

Zuppa Toscana
Serves 6-8

4 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
3 large potatoes, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 lb. spicy Italian sausage, browned and crumbled
1/2 lb. bacon, browned and crumbled
2 cups kale, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the water, broth, potatoes, garlic, and onion into a pot. Cook over high heat until the potatoes are fork tender.

Stir in the sausage and bacon and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in kale and heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

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This is my post for Weekend Herb Blogging. Check out Kalyn’s Kitchen on Sunday for the weekly roundup of interesting herb and veggie related posts.