To make the Italian Sausage and Peppers, you can use either sweet or hot sausage, green or red sweet peppers, or a combination. To take the heat up to another level (which we prefer) add a tsp of dried hot chili peppers as you are cooking the sausage. You can prepare the sausage ahead of time, refrigerate it, and add it to the pan of stir fry veggies when you are ready to eat. I prefer to cut the sausage links in thirds before cooking them. The recipe for roasted asparagus is at the bottom.Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds hot or sweet Italian sausage links, pricked with fork
1/4 cup water
2 large green or red peppers, cut into 3/4 inch wide strips
2 large onions, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1 garlic clove, finely chopped (I used 2 cloves)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dried hot chili peppers
1. In 12 inch skillet, heat sausage links and water to boiling over medium heat. Remember to add the chili peppers if you are using them. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Remove cover and cook, turning sausages frequently, until water is evaporated and sausages are well browned, about 20 minutes longer. With tongs, transfer sausages to paper towel to drain.
2. Pour off all but one tbsp of fat from skillet ( I didn't find I had any fat in the pan so I added one tbsp of olive oil). Add peppers, onions, garlic and salt; cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender.
3. Add sausage to the peppers and onions; heat through.
For the roasted asparagus, preheat oven to 425F. In small bowl, combine a couple of tbsps olive oil; 1 tsp lemon rind, grated; finely chopped garlic clove, sprinkling of salt and 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper. Wash and clean a bunch of asparagus, removing barky stalks at bottom. Lay asparagus stalks out on a cookie sheet & drizzle olive oil mixture over stalks, tossing lightly. Roast for 10-15 minutes.
