Now that we are in the full swing of summer, it’s time for easy recipes that can be made on the grill. This recipe for Cast Iron Asparagus and Peppers is perfect because it can be made on the grill or in the oven. It’s also very good for you, veggies and olive oil with just a bit of seasoning will give you a ton of flavor that you will love! I used my 10 inch cast iron skillet, see here. I love using this because it works just as well as my 12 inch but can handle stuff like this with ease. This can cook while you have your main course cooking and you don’t need to worry about it. The cast iron helps everything roast evenly. Cast Iron Asparagus and Peppers is a perfect easy summer side for your hot and relaxing nights. [Read more…]
Pan-seared Bratwurst and Cabbage
Pan-seared bratwurst and cabbage is an easy to make dinner that stands on its own with no need for exotic spices or arduous preparation.
Up to this point, Domesticated Wild Child has focused on recipes using kielbasa such as Skillet Kielbasa Mac and Cheese Penne or Kielbasa Potato Bake. This is because the smoked flavor and texture of kielbasa plays so well with a variety of other ingredients. Bratwurst on the other hand is typically filled with raw pork or veal that when cooked, create this wonderful savory juice that is better supported than combined. Our dish today adds rice to place the bratwurst on top and capture that run off from the sausage. We’ve also added a bit of bacon to the sautéed cabbage to give it a nice crisp salty punch.
If you’d like to learn more about the different types of sausages and their characteristics check out this guide used in preparation for this recipe.
Ingredients:
Bratwurst sausages
quarter head of cabbage
1 slice of bacon
quarter of an onion
Pat of butter
1 cup of rice
Method:
To 1 cup cooked rice, add one can of sliced mushrooms, drained.
Keep rice warm.
Begin cooking German bratwurst in a cast iron skillet. Turn as needed until you see a nice light brown crust forms. Make sure to use a cooking thermometer to ensure the pork or veal reaches a safe 160 deg Fahrenheit temperature.
While the bratwurst is cooking, start on the cabbage and bacon.
Slice 1/4 onion and 1/4 head cabbage.
Cook 1 slice bacon. Set aside to cool then dice.
Drain all but about 1 Tbsp of the bacon grease from the frying pan.
Dump the onion, cabbage, and bacon into the pan with the grease and sauté to cook through.
By the time the cabbage is ready, the bratwurst should be done.
Add 1 Tbsp butter to the rice and stir it in to melt the butter.
Plate the rice first and set the cooked bratwurst on top of the rice and finish off with a scoop or two of the cabbage beside the rice.
Ingredients
- Bratwurst sausages
- quarter head of cabbage
- 1 slice of bacon
- quarter of an onion
- Pat of butter
- 1 cup of rice
- can of mushrooms
Method
- To 1 cup cooked rice, add one can of sliced mushrooms, drained.
- Keep rice warm.
- Begin cooking German bratwurst in a cast iron skillet. Turn as needed until you see a nice light brown crust forms. Make sure to use a cooking thermometer to ensure the pork or veal reaches a safe 145 deg Fahrenheit temperature.
- While the bratwurst is cooking start on the cabbage and bacon.
- Slice 1/4 onion and 1/4 head cabbage.
- Cook 1 slice bacon. Set aside to cool then dice.
- Drain all but about 1 Tbsp of the bacon grease from the frying pan.
- Dump the onion, cabbage, and bacon into the pan with the grease and sauté to cook through.
- By the time the cabbage is ready, the bratwurst should be done.
- Add 1 Tbsp butter to the rice and stir it in to melt the butter.
- Plate the rice first and set the cooked bratwurst on top of the rice and finish off with a scoop or two of the cabbage beside the rice.
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Today we have a wholesome homemade soup. Roasted butternut squash forms the basis of this delicious appetizer or light main course meal. The best part about making soup at home is that you can generally use whatever you have on hand. For that reason, substitutions in this recipe are encouraged. Go ahead and try new combinations, have fun with it! One note in particular, you can use vegetable broth as a substitute to make this in a vegan/vegetarian version.
Before we get started let’s chat a bit about squash. It is a vegetable that has been cultivated for at least 12,000 years. Part of a trio, squash, beans and corn, that provided key nutritional value for Native Americans. Butternut squash was actually bred in Massachusetts in the 1940’s by Charles Leggett. He was looking to create a squash that would be tasty, the right size and easy to prepare for a family dinner. Every fall, when these start showing up in the grocery store in numbers, we certainly appreciate all of Mr. Leggett’s hard work.
Soups are not just for winter but are also an excellent way for single cooks to prepare fresh wholesome meals. Eating a portion that evening and saving the remainder in the freezer without sacrificing too much flavor. For other soup ideas on this site, check out our Mexican Chicken Soup or this Ham Bone Soup that you might enjoy after that traditional Easter Ham dinner.
Let’s get to creating this delicious dish!
Preparation:
The day before starting the soup, roast the butternut squash by smearing it with olive oil and baking it on a broiler pan in a 350° oven for an hour. Let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.
Ingredients:
Olive oil (to sauté onion and celery)
White part of 2 leeks (or 1/2 large onion) diced
1 or 2 stalks celery, finely chopped (optional)
3 cups chicken broth (or ham broth – I use 3 cups water with 2-1/2 Tbsp ham base, you can also substitute this for vegetable broth for vegan/vegetarian version)
1/3 cup dry sherry – (or red wine)
2 tart apples peeled and diced (granny smith or braeburn), you can also use a sweeter apple like gala or fuji but be mindful the sweet taste when adding the orange juice later
Butternut squash (the roasted squash peels easily) peeled & diced into large chunks
2 medium peeled and chopped russet potatoes
1 cup fresh orange juice – (if you used sweet apples, then substitute with a 1/2 cup lemon juice)
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1-1/2 Tbsp curry powder to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1-1/4 cups half & half
A dollop of sour cream at serving
Method:
First into the 5-quart soup pot, sauté leek (or onion) with the celery until translucent. Add sherry and broth, squash, potatoes and apples. Bring to boil and cook until the apples and potatoes are very tender, about 45 minutes to an hour.
After the first ingredients have cooked through, Add orange juice (or lemon juice), honey, salt, curry and pepper. Reduce heat to simmer and continuing cooking, stirring every 15 minutes or so until everything is “smooth”, about hour.
Remove from heat and use immersible blender to purée any remaining vegetable chunks. Finally, gently blend in the half & half.
To serve, sprinkle pepper on top and add a dollop of sour cream.
Leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen into convenient serving size containers. When ready for use, thoroughly heat before serving but do not boil. For example you can use the defrost settings in your microwave to gently reheat by weight or if refrigerated and using stove top, gradually reheat on low or low medium setting while closely supervised.
As a small bowl of soup before the main course of dinner, this recipe has 8 to 10 servings or for the main meal, it will satisfy about 6 people with crackers or bread on the side.
Ingredients
- Olive oil (to sauté onion and celery)
- White part of 2 leeks (or 1/2 large onion) diced
- 1 or 2 stalks celery, finely chopped (optional)
- 3 cups chicken broth (or ham broth - I use 3 cups water with 2-1/2 Tbsp ham base, you can also substitute this for vegetable broth for vegan/vegetarian version)
- 1/3 cup dry sherry – (or red wine)
- 2 tart apples peeled and diced (granny smith or braeburn), you can also use a sweeter apple like gala or fuji but be mindful the sweet taste when adding the orange juice later
- Butternut squash (the roasted squash peels easily) peeled & diced into large chunks
- 2 medium peeled and chopped russet potatoes
- 1 cup fresh orange juice – (if you used sweet apples, then substitute with a 1/2 cup lemon juice)
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1-1/2 Tbsp curry powder to taste
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1-1/4 cups half & half
- A dollop of sour cream at serving
Method
- First into the 5-quart soup pot, sauté leek (or onion) with the celery until translucent.
- Add sherry and broth, squash, potatoes and apples.
- Bring to boil and cook until the apples and potatoes are very tender, about 45 minutes to an hour.
- After the first ingredients have cooked through,
- Add orange juice (or lemon juice), honey, salt, curry and pepper.
- Reduce heat to simmer and continuing cooking, stirring every 15 minutes or so until everything is “smooth”, about hour.
- Remove from heat and use immersible blender to purée any remaining vegetable chunks.
- Finally, gently blend in the half & half.
- To serve, sprinkle pepper on top and add a dollop of sour cream.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated or frozen into convenient serving size containers.
- When ready for use, thoroughly heat before serving but do not boil.
- For example you can use the defrost settings in your microwave to gently reheat by weight or if refrigerated and using stove top, gradually reheat on low or low medium setting while closely supervised.
- As a small bowl of soup before the main course of dinner, this recipe has 8 to 10 servings or for the main meal, it will satisfy about 6 people with crackers or bread on the side.
Blackened Chicken with Avocado Hot Sauce
I recently got the opportunity to try some Kumana Avocado Sauce and I knew that this Blackened Chicken was the perfect dish to accompany it. I used the Mango Sweet sauce which was the ying to the spice in the chicken. This recipe is very easy to prep and make and makes a perfect meal prep recipe. The avocado sauce has natural ingredients and comes in three different versions so you can have it as spicy as you crave! You can find out more about Kumana here. Now that it’s finally warming up outside, this sauce is perfect for outdoor grilling. You can use it on grilled meat, as a topping off your morning eggs or to give a little extra pop to your fish tacos!
If you are looking for easy and delicious, then Blackened Chicken with Avocado Hot Sauce is just right for you! [Read more…]
Chili Lime Pepper Chicken
I love this recipe for Chili Lime Pepper Chicken! It’s incredibly easy to put together so you can let it marinade all day and have it on the table in less than an hour. It’s also low on fat and carbs so it’s a great option for meal prepping because you can make a lot at one time and they reheat very well!
[Read more…]Eggplant Cacciatore
I love using eggplant to cook. It has amazing flavor and can be used in many different ways. This recipe for Eggplant Cacciatore is incredibly easy and delicious. I state to use tomato sauce in the recipe, I used my homemade sauce (see here) and I felt it gave the recipe even more flavor. If there is a specific sauce that you like, feel free to use it. This is a perfect dish for a busy night when you need dinner pretty quick. This whole recipe took about 30 minutes to get on the table. [Read more…]
Skillet Chicken Burrito Bowl
Burrito bowls are the ultimate in easy, plan ahead meals! You can make this Skillet Chicken Burrito Bowl and have lunch set for the week. The best part of this recipe is that it’s a one pan dish. All you need is a deep skillet and you are all set. You can also add some diced tomatoes, sour cream, pico de gallo or salsa to give it more spice. [Read more…]