Italian Sausage and Cannellini Bean Stew

I love one pot meals. They make my life so much easier. Since I work until 7pm I like meals I can make relatively quickly and that are going to have as few dishes as possible. Its a wonderful thing when I can get out of the kitchen with one pan, a cutting board and a knife as my only prep dishes. This is a super easy and tasty meal, it is also pretty healthy all things considered.

You can substitute different sausage if you like, but I would recommend something with a little kick and a lot of flavor like Spicy Italian or Chorizo otherwise I think this dish could come off a little bland.

Sorry no pictures of this one! I was in a time crunch.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb fresh Spicy Italian Sausage/Chorizo
1 larg eonion
4 garlic cloves minced
1 sprig thyme
2 15 oz Cannellini beans (white kidney beans), rinsed
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
Kosher salt, freshly ground peper
5-6oz baby spinach
Paprika (smoked is preferable)

Directions:
Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet ove rmedium heat. Add sausage and cook, till sausage is mostly cooked through and casing is browned (15-20 minutes). Transfer to plate.
In same pan, add onion, garlic, and thyme sprig. Cook until onion is softened (5-8 minutes).**
Add beans and broth, cook and crush a few beans with spoon to thicken sauce (8-10 minutes).
Season with salt and pepper
Add spinach by handfuls and cook till wilted
Add sausage
Sprinkle with additional  olive oi and sprinkle with paprika if desired

Calories 570, Fat 33g, Fiber 11g, (I recalculated with Sparkrecipes and it said 466 calories, it just depends on the sausage I think...)

This recipe was originally featured in February 2013's Bon Appetit

**If you feel comfortable multitasking you can start the onions etc. sauteing as the sausages finish, this will cut down on your cooking time.

Roast Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice, Sausage, Cranberries and Hazelnuts,

This one is really yummy. Chris says it's one of his new favorites. I made it with brown rice, because that's what I had, but I think wild rice would make it waaaay better. I added sausage and Parmesan for a little more substance, but this would be a great side dish to roasted or grilled meat if you didn't want to just make this. I used a mild sausage, but again, I really think this would be better if you used spicy Italian. I'm going to make this for my Grandma on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, since she tends to be overwhelmed with cooking afterward... It's such a perfect fall recipe.

Ingredients
2.5 Cups Cooked Wild or Brown Rice
3 small acorn squash (each about 10 to 12 ounces), cut in half, seeded, or 1 butternut squash
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 finely chopped onions
2 teaspoons crumbled dried sage leaves

1 lb spicy Italian sausage (remove casings)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons dried cranberries (about 3 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons chopped toasted hazelnuts (about 3 ounces)
1/4-1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan Cheese

Directions
Cook Rice. Transfer rice to large bowl.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Oil baking sheet. Place squash, cut side down, on sheet. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes. Cool. Using spoon, scoop out pulp from squash, leaving 1/4-inch-thick shell; reserve shells. Transfer pulp to medium bowl. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

I did the first part of this while the squash was cooking to save time....
Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions; sauté until very tender, about 15 minutes. Add sage; stir 2 minutes. Add rice, squash pulp and lemon juice; stir until mixed, breaking up squash pulp into smaller pieces. Mix in 1/2 cup cranberries, 1/2 cup hazelnuts and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide rice mixture among reserved squash shells. Place in roasting pan. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake squash until filling is heated through, about 25 minutes.