So this dish was inspired by several things. First, lack of energy and time. Second, CSA ingredients that needed using, and thirdly, a green bean and potatoes in tomato sauce dish that Lynn was supposed to send me the recipe for, but bitch never did. So I made up my own with what I had.

I live with a man whom we shall refer to, on his request, as The Green Bee. He went to the Jets game last weekend, and tailgated with a friend, and they had 3 pork/broccoli rabe sausages leftover that he bought at our butcher, and famous sandwich maker… Graham Avenue Meats and Deli There is an awesome mini-doc someone made about the place on their yelp page, and it is one of my favorite places. The butcher’s mom makes the most amazing stuffed artichokes and random dishes and puts the trays of leftovers up for sale at the shop, it is pretty ridiculous. But I am getting off topic. Back to my dinner.

I have been missing cooking in my busiest month of the year, and all I wanted after working for ten hours today was a home-cooked meal, but I was starving and needed one fast. I may or may not have munched on a handful of mixed olives while cooking. I also, sadly, had to toss my bunch of sweet potato leaves from the CSA that I wanted to add, because they went bad in about, um, an hour. So that was unfortunate.

Serves – 2

Nutrition – I finally made something without a ton of dairy! haha. No, its pretty well rounded, and im pretty proud of it.

Ingredients –

3 pork/broccoli rabe sausages or meat of your choice
5 small new potatoes*, cut into discs and slices a little over 1/8″ wide
1/4 lb string beans* cut into 1″ pieces
1 tomato*, diced
1 handful purple basil, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic*, minced
1/4 cup or so of stock
1 TB good quality olive oil
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp fresh ground sea salt
1 tsp crushed red pepper

Step 1 – heat oil and garlic and add potato and half your spices and cook for about 10 minutes. I add splashes of stock and water as things start to stick to avoid using too much oil…I don’t understand all the recipes that call for a teaspoon of oil and that’s it. That never works for me. I ended up using chicken stock here because it was all I had, but I would have preferred vegetable stock.

Step 2 – I pulled the sausage from the casings and smashed it into the center of my pan and keep breaking it up as it cooked.

Step 3 – When sausage is fully cooked, add your green beans and cook for another 5 minutes, or longer if you dont like crunchy beans. I do.

Step 4 – Add your diced tomato and the remainder of your spices and stir in, adding any additional salt and pepper you require.

Step 5 – Add your chopped basil…I used purple basil harvested from my Aerogarden (love that thing!)

Step 6 – Cover and let cook for another minute or so, then serve, you can top with shredded parmesan, provolone, asiago mix as I did, or leave as is.

Consensus – I thought it was warm and flavorful, the broccoli rabe was just bitter enough, and the string beans were surprisingly spicy and had a great texture and flavor. The potatoes were just soft enough, and the sausage was perfectly cooked. Definitely made me happy and full after a long day.

The Green Bee says – “All of the flavors were really wonderful but the rosemary was definitely the star. The sausage was a little oily but had great seasonings as well. I think everything came together beautifully in the mouth and was cooked perfectly. The freshness and quality of all the ingredients really stood out.”

*CSA items