So happy to be back here, cooking and writing about food. Thank you to all of my loyal readers who have stuck around these parts during my unexpected hiatus. Was dealing with some messy stuff related to Crohn’s Disease, which managed to take over my life for the past couple months. Thankfully, things are good now and life is looking up. Always remember to take care of yourself and never ignore your health.

So…back to cooking.

Recently, I’ve been ordering some of my meat from Grow and Behold. They are a wonderful small company that delivers glatt kosher pasture-raised beef and poultry. You can read more about them on their website. Word has been getting out online that they had the good stuff. I had to see for myself. I am not the biggest meat eater, but some of my family is. I love their ethics and their selection is great. Additionally, they deliver to my front door! You can’t beat that! So I hopped online and browsed through their selection. I picked up a selection of various sausages, beef bacon, and other goodies. I was very impressed by their customer service and helpfulness when it came time to delivery. Everything arrived perfectly.

A recent order featured some amazing wonderful looking merguez sausage. Being that in recent weeks, I haven’t been doing too much cooking for the family, I decided to surprise the husband with a wonderful meat meal.

Dinner success. This merguez cooked up beautifully! No complaints from anyone.

Veggies and Merguez Sausage over Basmati Rice
Ingredients:

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. merguez sausage, sliced
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. allspice
1-2 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
1 red pepper, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
5 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 can diced tomatoes, drained ( I like the kind that has some onions pre-added to the can)
2 cups Basmati rice, cooked per directions on package

Directions:

Heat up oil in large saute pan.

Add in the sliced sausages and brown the sausages a bit. After it begins to brown, transfer the sausages to a plate for a bit.

Add in the onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes.

Add in the spices. We like some heat in our food, so I also added some red pepper flakes. Always good!

Add in the rest of the chopped veggies and cook another 5-7 minutes, until they begin to soften.

Once the veggies are soft, add in the diced tomatoes. Stir the mixture so all of the flavors come together.

Add the cooked sausage to the veggie mixture and cook another 5-6 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Serve over some rice, or another grain of your choosing.

Enjoy!