Go-To Dinners: Turkey Sausage with Peppers and Onions (Part 1 of 5)

Over the course of this week, I'm going to post five of my go-to dinners. These are all quick, easy, and somewhat healthy.

Without further ado, I present

Turkey Sausage with Peppers and Onions

When I know I'm going to have a busy week, I like to buy smoked turkey sausage. As it's already cooked, dinner can come together very quickly. This dish takes about 15-20 minutes to prepare. 

Ingredients:

smoked turkey sausage (any flavor)
onion, sliced
bell pepper, sliced (I prefer yellow in this recipe.)
1 garlic clove
1 beer (I've used Miller Light and Sierra Nevada. I didn't notice a difference.)
eggs for scrambling
hot sauce and rice vinegar to taste

Preparation:

1. Slice the sausage into 1/2 inch segments. Brown in a skillet on medium heat with a small amount of oil. 
2. When the sausage is brown (about 3-5 minutes), remove it from the pan, and add the sliced onion to the same pan.
3. Cook on medium for about a minute, then add in a sliced bell pepper. You could add them at the same time, but I like my peppers to be crispier than my onions. 
4. Let the peppers and onions cook on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes. 
5. As they are cooking prepare the garlic as such: Mince a clove of garlic on a cutting board. Sprinkle it with a pinch of salt. Leave it alone for a couple minutes. Then take the side of your knife and mash/spread it on the cutting board, making a paste. 
6. Add the garlic paste to the peppers and onions, and let it cook for about a minute. 
7. Add the sausage back to the pan, and turn the heat up to medium-high. 
8. Pour in a couple tablespoons of the beer to deglaze the pan. It is going to bubble up and smoke a lot, but that's okay, because now you have nearly full beer to drink. Bottoms up! 
9. Once the beer cooks down a bit and gets darker, turn the heat off. 
10. You could eat the sausage deliciousness now, but if you let it hang out in the pan, the beer "sauce" will thicken up. 
11. So while you're letting the sausage mixture age gracefully, you can make something to serve under it, like..
1. Scramble a couple eggs (like I did in the picture)
2. Make a batch of creamy polenta serve as is, or
3. Make the polenta in advance, let it chill, and then pan fry a couple slices of it. 
12. Before you serve the sausage mixture, taste it. Is it a bit dull? Does it need something to brighten it up? If yes, add in a splash or rice vinegar. It goes a long way to making the dish more pleasing to the palette. 
13. Serve the sausage mixture atop the eggs (or polenta). I like to top mine with some hot sauce. You may like the same. Enjoy!