I have been out of commission again. It has been a crazy year. Once I was on the road to recovery I found myself wanting something comforting. Something homey. Something easy. So Italian Sausage, broccoli rabe and Roasted Tomatoes. Few ingredients, easy to put together.
I am sorry to be short on photos, but I am still a little off balance. I went with family to The Bay Area. I have not flown for quiet awhile. It was more of a mini-test to see if I could travel. Since I have developed my food sensitivities I am so limited to where I go because of what I can eat. It is so much easier to manage when I am at home. I think I have harped on this before, but soy finds its way into almost everything. Anyway, all went well. I ate things I would not have dared eat a couple years ago, but so far I have tolerated it. I had visions of a big horn growing out of my head, but that did not happen, so far, so good. 🙂
However, the minute the flight attendant said to fasten our seat belts, the coughing began from the row beside us and the row behind us. I stuck my head down in my sweater and whispered to my sister we will surely have typhoid by Tuesday. My sister never catches anything. It is always me. I am pretty healthy until I get exposed to new germs. But, I did not get sick. Yet… It was my sister that went down in three days, and then the rest of us went down three days later.
But, like I said, when I was back on my feet I wanted real food. I had some Italian sausage in the freezer. I like to keep them on hand because they make great breakfast sausage, or a good sandwich for lunch, or in a dish with beans and broccoli rabe for dinner.
I removed the casing from the sausage, but that is just personal choice. I used a can of beans since I have not had time to cook a big pot of beans. I wanted something green so I chose broccoli rabe, and I know tomatoes are not in season, but I just can’t make it from one season to the next so I roasted these tiny little tomatoes with olive oil and shallots until they started to burst. I seasoned them with salt and pepper, and a drizzle of balsamic. I promise it will get you through to the next tomato season.
This is a really quick, hardy meal, with a minimum of ingredients. The sausage takes twelve minutes, the tomatoes about the same. The broccoli rabe takes a few minutes to blanch and the beans only need to be heated. How easy is that? I hope you will give it a try.
Now, does anyone have any tips for staying healthy while traveling? I would love it if you would share.
- 4 links Italian sausage – hot or mild
- 1 bunch broccoli rabe
- 1 – 15 ounce can cannellini beans
- small packet of grape tomatoes
- 2 shallots - sliced
- 1 garlic clove - minced
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup chicken stock
- Red pepper flakes to taste – I did not use this since the sausage was hot.
- Mise en place ~ Gather ingredients
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- In a separate skillet add grape sized tomatoes with sliced shallots and 2 tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast until the tomato skin start to burst. Remove from oven; drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
- Trim tough ends of broccoli rabe; cut into 2 inch pieces. In a skillet of salted boiling water blanch broccoli rabe stems in for a minute before adding tops which do not require as much time. Give them another minute or two. Stick a knife into the stem to see if they are tender.
- Plunge in ice water. Remove from ice water and place on a couple layers of paper towels. Set aside.
- Remove the casings from the sausage links. Cook in a skillet for about 12 minutes turning ever 3-4 minutes. I did not use red pepper flakes since the sausage was already hot. Remove from the skillet; let rest for a few minutes. Slice on the diagonal.
- Pour off excess fat from the skillet, but leave the fond.
- Rinse the cannellini beans; add to the skillet.
- Add chicken stock.
- Add the blanched broccoli rabe back to the pan.
- Add the sausage
- Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Scoop into a nice soup bowl. Add roasted tomatoes.
One tip I can offer for avoiding germs on the plane: Travel with a small pack of antiseptic cleaning wipes in your purse/backpack. As soon as you reach your seat, wipe down all the surfaces you will be touching, especially the pulldown tray and armrests… they will air dry quickly. The wipes are also helpful for hands to avoid touching surfaces in the lavatories.
As for breathing in germs, you can wear a face mask such as clinics give out. I’ve noticed many Asian travelers use them. May not look pretty, but effective, and which is more important?!
Hope you feel better soon! I enjoy your meals, healthy and so appetizing!
Hi Madonna. It is nice to meet another Madonna. 🙂 Thanks so much for the great tips. I wish I had had a mask for us, and brought those wipes. I always keep some in my purse and my car. I just took them out to make my purse a little lighter travel. Bad move on my part.
Sorry about you and family members getting sick…hope you are much better by now. I love your dish, it is one I’ve made as well as it is so quick to put together.
We are all better now. I am just the most impatient patient. It just seems so silly that people that are that sick would get on a plane knowing they are contagious and inflict their sickness on others.
Just wanted to stop back by and wish you a healthy an happy new year.
Staying healthy while traveling is a real challenge. I think the best we can do is to use cleaning wipes and hope for the best. Your dish looks delicious, Madonna. I love this kind of comfort food.
When I first started using those antiseptic wipes I received quiet a bit of teasing, but now everyone is using them. I think there is nothing to do about recycled air on a plane. 🙁 I hope you will give my dish a try, it tasted good to me after all the chicken soup. 🙂
Sorry to hear about your health problems, hope you’ll get better soon. Loved the recipe, so easy and homey as well.
Thanks Amira. We are on our way.
Flying just stinks these days, doesn’t it? It’s always a hassle, and more times than not I get sick. Sorry that happened to you. But this looks like a wonderful antidote! Terrific dish — thanks.
I am glad I am not the only one that has those same thoughts. I love chicken soup, but you can just eat so much and then you need a little something different. Thanks for stopping by John.
I think I told you that I drank some Emergency C drink before I flew to visit my mom. I saw a girl next to me wipe down all her area with an antiseptic wipe. I’m going to start carrying those instead of the little liquid hand sanitizer that I keep in my purse.
Now onto your meal….what a colorful, healthy dish you’ve prepared, Madonna. I’m definitely going to make this easy meal. I love roasted tomatoes, plus all the other ingredients that you used. Thanks for sharing and I hope you’ll feel like your old self soon. Love and hugs are sent to you. God bless you!
I stupidly took my antiseptic wipes out of my purse just to lighten the load. I thought we would stop by a drugstore for all the toiletries etc. I won’t do that again. I will also stock up on Emergency C. As for the this dinner, I hope you will make it and enjoy it as much as I did. Don’t forget the tomatoes with the balsamic. I think they made the dish even if they are off-season.
Bless you and your family.
M.
You have quite a year, hopefully 2016 will be much better! I think this dish might cure just about any problem that might come up. It sounds fabulous, such a wonderful combination of colors, textures and flavors! Hope you have a very Merry Christmas Madonna!
Chris, This year has been the best of times and the worst of times. 🙂 I have only been allowed to tell the bad since it was about me directly, but I have had some really, really good news that I am not allowed to disclose, but it eclipses all of the bad things that have happened.
Thank you for your kindness and your support though out the year, it means a lot to me.
M.
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday. I sure appreciate you!
Miz Helen
What a delicious-looking comfort food dish! I love Italian sausage too. There’s an Italian deli in town that makes the best Italian sausages.
I’m so sorry that you all got sick! The same thing has happened to us traveling on planes. I guess people think there’s no way they’re going to forfeit the price of their ticket and travel plans if they have a cold. A doctor once told me to rub the lining of my nose with a tiny bit of Polysporin ointment before traveling to ward off germs. I try to keep glasses over my eyes too 🙂 Nothing is perfect but it helps.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, Madonna!
I like your tips about the polysporin and glasses. I guess it is more common than not to be sick after a flight.
Thanks for stopping by Susan. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Travel is so very difficult these days. For that matter so is staying in town. With people going out no matter how poorly they feel to unvaccinated kids, we all have plenty to worry about. Those antiseptic wipes are great. Several years ago I started using them to wipe down tables at restaurants and carts and baskets in markets. People used to just glare at me. No more – everyone is beginning to see the wisdom of being careful.
This dish sounds great – it’s the kind of dish we eat often.
Best wishes to you for a terrific holiday season and a wonderful 2016!
I love that this dish is so easy yet has such depth of flavor.
Early on I used those wipes, especially after using an ATM. Everyone laughed at me and then I started seeing every one carrying a tube of those wipes. Seems I am not so eccentric. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by Adri, I love hearing from you.
Love these quick, almost thrown together dishes and yours looks especially yummy and colorful! Happy New Year Madonna!
I love easy. 🙂 So nice to hear from you.