Part of the fun of belonging to a CSA is the surprise of what's going to come in the weekly basket, and planning meals from there. For the past few weeks, we've been getting bell peppers and onions in every singly basket. Onions are easy to incorporate into almost any meal, but I realized that the peppers were stacking up. I needed a meal that would use those babies up. I came across this recipe for sausage, peppers and onions, and I'll admit, while I was happy to be incorporating those bell peppers, I wasn't too excited about the recipe. I had made peppers and onions in the past, but they were never super flavorful or memorable. Well, I realized what I was doing wrong. According to my recipe inspiration, the key is to let the peppers and onions simmer for at least 30 minutes. I hadn't been cooking mine nearly this long. Y'all, it makes all the difference. The onions start to caramelize and everything becomes twelve kinds of delicious. Husby raved about this meal. And why is it that the simplest meals always get the best reviews? I mean, this dinner could not be easier. So much that I have already made it twice. Twice! The first time I was not planning on blogging about it (remember my low expectations?), and the second time, I literally woke up on Taco Tuesday pumped because dinner was going to be so easy to make. Score. I made a few tweaks to the original recipe, but these tacos are still ridiculously easy to put together.
First the shopping list: onion, peppers, and sausage. Done. Add in some flour tortillas since we are making these into tacos, and I served them with CSA fruit. The original recipe used a chicken sausage, but I thought a sweet breakfast-style pork sausage would be super tasty, so that's what I picked up.
For the prep, dice the peppers and onions. Done. I mean, I was not lying when I said this meal was suuuuuper simple. (The original recipe uses more traditional large pieces of peppers and onions, but since these were for tacos, I diced mine up. I'm also feeding a two-year-old, so having bite-sized pieces also totally helps come dinner time).
The original recipe calls for heating up oil in the skillet. I did this the first time I made the tacos and they mixture turned out pretty greasy (delicious, but greasy). So the next time, I skipped the oil and put the sausage straight into a heated skillet. After browning for five minutes, I added the peppers and onions, and (as per directions!) let them simmer a good 30 minutes. And that's preeeetty much it. You now have thirty minutes to do the dishes, clean the kitchen, and even dice up some fruit to go along with your tacos. We had a cantaloupe in that week's CSA box, yum.
After 30 minutes, the sausage, peppers, and onions should be ready! The original recipe added some chopped basil at this point, and since our garden is still producing it, I added a handful as well. I then removed the skillet from the heat and stirred in some shredded jack cheese to melt (you can also top the tacos with cheese right before serving like the original recipe, but husby likes his cheese melted so I did it right in the pan). Then just stuff your warmed flour tortillas and you are good to go! Happy Taco Tuesday!
Sausage, Peppers & Onions Soft Tacos
Ingredients
1 onion, diced
2 bell peppers, diced
1 lb. country style or breakfast style pork sausage
for serving: flour tortillas, shredded jack cheese, basil, fruit
Directions
Brown sausage in pre-heated skillet for five minutes. Add onion and peppers and simmer on low/medium low for at least thirty minutes. Add a handful of chopped basil (optional) and remove from heat. Stir in a handful of shredded jack cheese and let melt. Stuff into warmed flour tortillas, and serve with fruit if desired. Make a note to make them on the next Taco Tuesday because they are so darn easy.
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