Warm Spinach Salad with Grilled Sausage

We have a great grocery store here in Texas, HEB...Here Everythings Better. We bought some smoked jalapeno sausage that they were sampling the other night, and man these were good. They were Shiner brand, just like the beer.



4 sausages (about 1 pound)
4 plum tomatoes, cut in half

1 onion, sliced

4 T. olive oil

bag of spinach

1 T. balsamic vinegar

1 T. spicy brown mustard

1. Heat grill to medium-high. With a fork, prick the sausages in several places. Grill, turning occasionally, until cooked through, 10-12 minutes.


2. Meanwhile brush tomatoes and onions with one tablespoon of oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl, and add the spinach, and toss.


3. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and the remaining 3 tablespoons of the oil, salt and pepper. Serve sausages with the spinach salad and dressing.

The Verdict: Easy and good. I also made a basic polenta recipe, cooled it, sliced it, and grilled it. It made a nice light side dish. The dressing in the recipe is amazing, and might be my new go to salad dressing!! To season the tomatoes and onions, I used a new sea salt that I just won on Joelens blog, and the flavor was great. The sea salt is from Urban Accents, and it is their Isle of Capri Seasoned Sea Salt. YUM!

Antipasto sausage skewers...and yes they are somewhat healthy!

Antipasto Sausage Skewers
recipe from Food Network Magazine


Cooking Spray
12 oz. fully cooked poultry sausage, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used sun-dried tomato chicken sausage)
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh basil
1 12oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed, and cut into 1 inch pieces
2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces if large (I used whole piece)
1 14 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (I only halved them)

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat; mist with cooking spray. Add sausage; cook, turning 2 or 3 times until warmed through and browned, about 8 min.
2. Thread 1 basil leaf onto small wooden skewer. Adda piece of roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomato, artichoke and sausage, arranging them on the skewer so that it can stand up on the sausage end. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Serving size 4 skewers ( I know...you get 4 which is quite a bit for not a lot of calories)

Calories 140; Fat 5g; Cholesterol 30 mg; Sodium 970mg; Carbohydrate 12g; Fiber 2g; Protein 12g

The verdict: A hit!!!! There were leftovers only because I made way too many other apps. But I had a few for lunch today and the leftovers are just as good.