Another one-pan wonder... chicken sausage and veggies!

One of my most popular posts was back in the fall when I posted the Autumn chicken one pan wonder! So I was trying to figure out how to translate that dish into a spring/summer version. I wanted to highlight all of the delicious fresh veggies that are popping up in my local produce department. 
One trend in veggies I am completely obsessed with at the moment is rainbow varieties of vegetables! Rainbow carrots are absolutely gorgeous and make any dish beautiful! Each color tastes slightly different (sweeter or more savory)! White carrots are a sweeter variety while purple carrots are a little more robust in flavor. I managed to find a large bag of them at Costco and then rainbow mini potatoes at Kroger last week! Perfect for this colorful one pan dish! 

This fabulous dish graced our table Monday evening because I was so excited to make it! It also has provided wonderful leftovers throughout the remainder of this week. I love when things make great leftovers. As someone who HATES most leftovers this one is definitely a dish I can reheat over and over and it tastes just as delicious! 

One Pan Italian Sausage and Veggies

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

45 mins

 !

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 6 when served with rice or quinoa

Source: Chelsea's Messy Apron blog

Ingredients

• 2 large carrots ~2 cups (I used more with my rainbow carrots)
• 2 red potatoes ~2 cups (I used a variety of colored mini potatoes)
• 1 small-medium zucchini ~2 and 1/3 cups
• 2 red peppers ~2 cups
• 1 head broccoli ~1 and 1/2 cups
• 16 ounces Smoked Italian Turkey or Chicken Sausage (I used a mild chicken/apple sausage)

Seasonings

• 1/2 tablespoon EACH: dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley, garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon EACH: onion powder, dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional (I didn't want heat so I left this out)
• 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated, optional (I didn't want the calories so left out)
• 4 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• Optional: fresh parsley, salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or foil (easy clean-up) and set aside.
2. Prep the veggies: *It is important to prep the veggies according to directions to ensure they all cook at the same time*
3. Peel and very thinly slice the carrots.  Wash and (if desired peel, we love the peel on) chop the red potatoes. You want the pieces quite small here. (I halve the potatoes and then cut each half into 10-12 pieces)
4. Halve the zucchini and then cut *thick* coins of zucchini. Coarsely chop the broccoli. Remove the stems and seeds from the peppers and chop into medium-sized pieces. Chop the sausage into thick coins.
5. Pour all the veggies and sausage on the sheet pan.
6. In a small bowl combine all of the seasonings and salt and pepper if desired (I use about 1/8 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt) with the olive oil. Stir to combine.
7. Pour the seasoning & oil mixture on top of the veggies and sausage and thoroughly toss to coat.
8. Place in the heated oven for 15 minutes. Remove and toss around the veggies + sausage and return to the oven for another 10-20 minutes or until veggies are crisp tender.
9. Remove and top, if desired, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley.
10. Serve on top of rice or quinoa if desired. (Also great plain!)

A Spring Masterpiece!

 It's finally spring here in Illinois!  We have planted some flowers and have been outside often.  Last weekend we had a fabulous Easter celebration here at our house for both sides of the family!  I love entertaining big crowds but I was absolutely exhausted when it was over.  I was in charge of the main dish which was of course him and then made a second main dish in case somebody wanted something different which was my barbecue pulled pork.  Both main dishes were easy to do the day of a big event and caused very little stress.  I started looking back on some of my other Easter dishes that I have created for Easter celebrations and my favorite is always my spring basket cake!  The cake is so simple but it looks like I spent hours on it.
How do you make the cake?
 Take your favorite cake mix or homemade recipe and make two (or three)  round cakes!  Frost in between the cakes and layer them accordingly .  Frost around the cake and place Kit Kat bars around the cake for your basket.  Typically for the "grass"  I would take coconut and food coloring to make the green grass.  However I have a husband that absolutely hates coconut .... not sure what's wrong with him because I love coconut !  So I took green frosting and green sprinkles to make the grass effect on top of the cake! You could then take the many Cadberry Easter eggs and place them on the top of the cake if it's for an Easter celebration or you could do it I did and got the plain white mini Cadbury eggs to make a Spring Basket!  To finish off the cake I tied a simple ribbon around it just to give it a pop!  If you're really good with frosting you could make a ribbon out of frosting.  I know I'm not that steady!
 This cake turned out absolutely delicious in  2013 and I may have to make another one soon!