What we had for dinner - Sausage Rice

Hey there!! Today I am posing that age old question that I personally will never tire of....."so what are you having for dinner tonight???"
I think I've said here before that I am definitely more of a 'baker' than a 'meal-cooker' type person and can often find myself in a bit of a rut, hence cooking the same meals over and over because they are quick, easy and...quick and easy really.
For this reason I love hearing what other 'normal' (we use that term very loosely around here)  mum's-on-the-run are whipping up for their families with 'normal' grab-from-the-supermarket or, better yet, grab-from-the-pantry ingredients.
So I figured I could share another what-we-had-for-dinner-last-night type recipe (again, let's use this term very very loosely please!!) with you guys and if it helps anyone gain ideas for what to throw to their children for dinner then I will feel happy!!?!

                                                                                   

                                                                                     

This meal came about after an old magazine came flying out of a drawer (as they do....) and landed at my feet. I bent to pick it up (no doubt with the intention of shoving it straight back into said drawer) caught a glance at the cover and thought "oooohh that looks good" or some such intelligent thing.............

                                                                                   

It's original name in the mag was "One-pot Italian sausage rice" however, after changing up a few things ie..the one-pot. And the Italian sausage....we best think of another name.
Hows about.....

                                                                 Sausage Rice

Oh the originality!!!!!

Ok.....so here we go..............

Ingredients I threw in for this batch were...........

1 onion, chopped
1 zuchini, chopped
1 packet Mr Beak's Smoky Chorizo sausages (6 in a pack)
garlic, fresh or jar
dried Italian herbs
1 can diced tomatoes (I used Macro organic brand)
splosh of red wine
1 cup rice

Method ..kind of......

Get your rice cooking

Heat a little olive oil in a large-ish pan and squish out little meat ball sized pieces of the sausage. Or if you're sensible you will probs do it all before hand in which case throw in all your little balls of sausage into the pan. Throw away the casings...

                                                                                   

Once these are browned add your onion, garlic and zuchini. I like to brown these off a bit too then throw in your tomatoes, herbs and wine. Season with salt and pepper, cover and let simmer away until your rice is cooked.
When the rice is cooked throw it in with the meat (I like to rinse the rice first) give it all a stir and serve it up.
I then grate a fair quantity of cheddar cheese onto the kids' serves but often just use parmesan on mine. Mr WF takes care of his own!!?!

                                                                                     

How easy is that??? Honestly though, just treat this as a rough guide...feel free to add whatever you think will work for you and your's. I have thrown in broccoli before, a little pesto works well too, as will the fresh basil I have growing out in our herb garden, sprinkled on top with the cheese will work a treat!!

                                                                                   

Capsicum, peas, pumpkin, other types of snags....the list is endless really but I love this for the ridiculously simple base it offers with the rice, meat and tomatoes....

                                                                                   

And hopefully you will be left with plates like this.....

                                                                                   

I'm now off to enjoy a little lunch in the sunshine....

Have a fab day folks...............


                                                                  Janelle  xx