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Dinner

Sausage Switch-Up

By January 24, 2018February 4th, 201814 Comments

A few years ago, I got in an argument with an anonymous commenter after posting a recipe that involved pan-fried sweet Italian sausages. The gist of the personโ€™s complaint was that cooking any recipe using sausage was not cooking from scratch, and furthermore, if you are someone who makes a living writing recipes, you are breaking all kinds of rules by suggesting this qualifies as a โ€œrealโ€ recipe.

Itโ€™s cheating, theย commenter, wrote. Sausage has so much flavor and so many spices that you donโ€™t need any skill to make a sausage-based dinner taste good.

Exactly, I said.

Because as you know, in addition to being in the business of recipes, Iโ€™m in the business of feeding a bunch of ravenous, drowning-in-homework children every night, which means I put a high premium on dinners that practically cook themselves, like this grain bowl made with merguez, a lamb sausage spiked with Middle Eastern spices. Merguez is a little harder to find โ€” a good butcher will usually carry it, or look for Dโ€™Artagnan brand in better supermarkets โ€” but itโ€™s also such a special switch-up from the regular old Italian or chorizo links that normally grace the table.

I like using wheat berries in this grain bowl โ€” theyโ€™re nutty and firm and hold their own flavor-wise alongside the lamb โ€” but you can also use quinoa or farro if thatโ€™s what youโ€™ve got lying around. I toss in the crispy merguez crumbles, add mint, parsley, cucumbers for a cooling crunch, then a punchy yogurt dressing, and the result is a low-effort, high-reward dinner that earns regular rotation status, especially if Iโ€™ve been my best self and thought to prepare a batch of wheat berries the day before. (The grain simmers for just about an hourโ€”remembering to do this in advance is the most technically challenging part of the recipe.)

Iโ€™ll add here that, in general, the girls arenโ€™t huge proponents of bowl dinners (unless itโ€™s of the sushi orย burrito variety)ย and this recipe can easily be turned into a plate of sausage, cucumbers and pomegranate seeds, with a dollop of yogurt dipping sauce, hold the grains. And if thatโ€™s cheating, Iโ€™m totally cool with it.

Head over to Bon Appetitโ€˜sย Healthy-ish for the recipe. Photo by Bobbi Lin for Bon Appetit.

As always, for more quick and easy dinners, check outย Dinner: A Love Story or Dinner:ย The Playbook.

14 Comments

  • Avatar MJ says:

    That looks like the perfect dinner to me: easy, tasty, fast. Whatโ€™s not to like? Iโ€™m often in the position of making dinner on a tight timeline so we can get to after dinner homework or extra-curricular activities so I appreciate having some recipes that require minimal effort.

  • Avatar Andrea says:

    Oh gosh, people slay meโ€ฆ.peopleโ€™s opinions and constant scrutiny slay meโ€ฆ.and by people I donโ€™t mean you, Jenny, I mean โ€œpeopleโ€. Glad you could laugh it off and keep on โ€œcheatingโ€. I rely on it daily.

  • Avatar Laura J says:

    I have this crazy thing I do with blogs that bug me-I stop reading them. Keep doing what youโ€™re doing. Donโ€™t let those kind of people get under your skin.

  • Jenny Jenny says:

    Andrea/Laura โ€“ Just want to be clear that I thought the whole โ€œargumentโ€ with the anonymous commenter was actually kind of funny. It didnโ€™t bother me in the least. (One day, when Iโ€™m brave, I will write about the ones that do.) But I love the support from you guys anyway! Make this bowl, it is DELICIOUS. xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

    • Avatar Katherine says:

      I feel like Charlie Brown โ€“ good grief! I am impressed you found some humor. Looking forward to trying out the recipe.

  • Avatar Annie Green says:

    That is crazy โ€“ you might as well say that you shouldnโ€™t cook with bacon or smoked fish. They have presumably never eaten cassoulet. Funny how people like to find fault and have a dig.

  • Avatar AS says:

    Your cookbooks and website were my saving grace when I was figuring out how to navigate family dinner with two toddlers, and many of those same relatively easy, reliably good recipes have become regular favorites years later. Many thanks.

  • Avatar Sophie says:

    Haha, and while youโ€™re at it, packaged pasta- cheating, you didnโ€™t mill your flour yourself- cheating! Youโ€™re telling me you didnโ€™t raise and slaughter your own meat before dinner? Disgraceful cheating ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Avatar Robin says:

    Thank goodness for cheaters like you, Jenny! Iโ€™ve adapted your breakfast sausage recipe in Celebrate Everything to whip up many a dinner. I substitute the maple syrup for fennel seeds to create a meaty sauce for veggie noodles or as
    a taco filling. Just last week, I served these sausage patties alongside butternut squash soup. If sausage is wrong, I donโ€™t want you to be right!

  • Avatar Nancy says:

    I love sausage as an easy way to get a head start on dinner, especially when staying in a vacation house and I canโ€™t count on a well stocked spice shelf! That said, no mergueze was to be had in any of my grocery stores when I decided I had to make this. Not a problem, itโ€™s very easy to turn a pound of ground lamb into sausage with the addition of a few spices (I followed a recipe from David Lebovitzโ€™s book, MY PARIS KITCHEN). It turned out great and will definitely be repeated.

  • Avatar Edwina says:

    This looks delicious and nice and easy to make. I love โ€œcheatingโ€ with quick recipes the family will love.

  • Avatar Beth Parkhurst says:

    Make your own sausage? Really?

    OK, I have a Martha Stewart pie recipe that starts with planting the pear trees. She said that she didnโ€™t expect her readers to do that even though sheโ€™d done that herself, but still . . .

  • Avatar Anamaria says:

    Iโ€™m a sometimes-reader, first time commenter, and I just find that hilarious! Too too funny. MAKE YOUR OWN SAUSAGE OR YOU DONโ€™T COUNT! HA. Iโ€™m all for making things from scratch and eschew recipes that involved canned cream of chicken or whateverโ€ฆ but sausage???

  • Avatar Kate says:

    We made this tonight and it was so delicious! I added a little avocado to hit the creamy texture end of the spectrum, (wouldโ€™ve used feta if weโ€™d had some around). Seriously โ€“ the perfect meal.

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