couscous with broccolini and spiced chicken sausage

This recipe is proof we are up and running in the new apartment - the gas stove and all. I made this dinner by first cooking and browning the chicken sausage, then making the couscous, throwing the broccolini in at the end to steam the last few minutes, and mixing it all together. Pretty quick and easy and lots of good flavors, which mostly came from the really good sausage. I got the chicken sausages from the meat counter at Whole Foods, one garlic and herb, and one spicy italian. They were uncooked, so I first cooked them, then removed them from the pan to the cutting board, sliced them and put them back in the pan to brown.

2 chicken sausages (uncooked or cooked), use 1 spicy and 1 milder
1 bunch broccolini
1 cup Israeli couscous (I used a blend, like the Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend, which has quinoa and orzo mixed in)
season with a bit more salt and pepper

I thought the recipe would be good with some tomatoes mixed in, too. If it's summer, use fresh, or maybe even a can of diced tomatoes.

stuffed peppers with chard-shallot quinoa and andouille sausage

This was inspired by the beautiful swiss chard we got from our CSA on Friday, plus stuff we had in the pantry. I first made a quinoa with caramelized shallots and chard, added some toasted pine nuts (and andouille chicken sausage - but would be good as a vegetarian version as well). Then I filled some red bell peppers, topped with parmesan and put them under the broiler until brown and bubbly. Yum yum.

Tips: Cook the quinoa in some stock for extra flavor (1:2 ratio), and pre-boil the bell pepper 4-6 minutes so it's partially cooked when you put it in the oven. Make sure you keep a close eye on it when it's under the broiler - when it starts to brown it goes very quickly!