Jalepeno Roasted Vegetables



A couple of weeks ago I went to our local farmers' market and picked up some fabulous looking produce. I bought purple carrots, regular orange carrots, jalepeno peppers, black jalepeno peppers and some delicious chicken and apple sausage. I got home and tried to think of a delicious way to bring those components into a cohesive meal and came up with jalepeno roasted vegetables with barbequed chicken and apple sausage. It turned out to be such a unique and delicious meal! Hubby and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Isn't that produce beautiful? I had never found purple carrots before and just thought they were gorgeous! They don't taste any different, but they sure are pretty!

To make the vegetables:

Ingredients:

• Carrots, sliced
• Potatoes, sliced
• 1 green jalepeno, sliced
• 1 black jalepeno, sliced
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp chili powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Place carrots, potatoes and jalepenos in a large bowl. Mix together coconut oil, salt, pepper and chili powder. Pour over veggies and toss to coat. Don't worry if the coconut oil clumps up a bit - it will all melt and distribute once its in the oven.
2. Place veggies on a large baking tray lined with tin foil. Make sure they are in one even layer. Bake in preheated oven for 25-35 minutes or until the veggies are tender.

To make the sausage you'll just need your favorite sausage and some yummy BBQ sauce. Preheat your bbq to medium heat. Grill sausage until cooked through then brush with BBQ sauce to finish.

Pile the veggies in the middle of a plate, top with sausage and then pile on a few more of the roasted jalepeno rings. Voila! A super easy, simple and flavourful dish full of seasonal, local ingredients.

Happy Cooking my Friends!

The Mom Chef's Spicy Sausage and Mushroom Pizza for SRC

I am constantly surprised at how fast a month flies by each and every time I receive my Secret Recipe Club assignment... I know I say this every time I post an SRC post, but honestly, where on earth does the time go?! This month I was pretty excited to receive the blog Taking on Magazines by The Mom Chef (aka Christiane). Her blog is entertaining, real and oh-so-helpful! It was so cool to see her take and her thoughts on some of the recipes I had been eyeing up in my Bon Appetit magazines the last couple of months.

On my recent trip to Portland, I hit the outlets there for some serious shopping. My serious shopping often involves shoes and handbags like "normal" females, but it also involves hitting the kitchen outlet stores... on this last trip I found a smokin' deal on a pizza stone. So, my recipe search on Christiane's blog was fairly biased... I was on the lookout for a yummy sounding pizza recipe and I was in luck... she featured a number of pizza recipes, but the one that stood out to me was the Spicy Sausage and Mushroom Pizza. I adapted the recipe slightly, but it was fantastic! I am hooked on her blog and I love how she provides great feedback on all the recipes she tries... very helpful!

Spicy Sausage and Mushroom Pizza
Recipe adapted from Taking On Magazines

Ingredients:

• 1 lb refrigerated fresh pizza dough (I made my own because I've had a couple very bad experiences with store-bought dough... but feel free to purchase if you don't have time to whip up a batch!)
• 4 oz hot italian sausage
• 1/2 cup carmelized onions\
• 8-oz pre-sliced white mushrooms
• 1 tbsp yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce (store bought is fine, but I made my own in my food procesor)
• 1/2 cup mozza, grated
• 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano, shredded

Method:

1. Place pizza stone in cold oven and preheat to 400F.
2. Place dough in a bowl and coat lightly with oil or cooking spray. Let stand covered for 15 minutes.
3. Heat a large non-stick skilled over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage and add sausage to pan. Cook 3 minutes stirring to crumble. Add mushrooms and saute 6 minutes.
4. Remove heated pizza stone from oven and sprinkle with cornmeal. Roll dough into a 12 inch cirle and place on prepared pizza stone (careful, it will be super hot). Spread sauce over dough leaving 1/2 inch border. Top with sausage mixture and carmelized onions. Sprinkle with cheeses and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

Pretty easy and delicious!! Thanks Christiane for sharing such a delicious recipe. And thanks to Group C's wonderful hostess - Angie. She puts in a lot of hard work and we all appreciate it.

Happy Cooking my Friends!