Invent-A-Meal

I'm not a meal planner (at all) so I find myself "playing" invent-a-meal with some regularity, and tonight was one of those nights.  I play this game often enough that I've come up with two "rules" that help ensure we aren't clearing our plates when we should be reading bedtime stories.

Before assessing what I have on hand I:

1.  Put on a pot of water to boil.  
2. Preheat the oven.

It turns out that tonight I used both the water and the oven.

I haven't been to the grocery store in a week, but I have tons of produce from the vegetable and fruit share I bought from a local co-op on Saturday (more to come on that).  I scanned the fridge and realized I had chicken sausage I bought when I was at the grocery store (don't worry, it was well within the "sell by" date) and about half of a large log of goat cheese I found on the cheap at Whole Foods (of all places).  Throw in some pasta and produce share veggies and you've got a full fledged dinner. 

Here's what I came up with...


Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Pasta with Chicken Sausage (sounds fancy, right ;)):
1/2 Box Bow Tie Pasta (I boiled the whole box to have the leftovers on hand)
1 pt Grape Tomatoes
1 Bunch Swiss Chard, chopped (spinach or kale would have probably been even better)
1 lb Chicken Sausage
4-5 oz Goat Cheese
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400°.  Place tomatoes in a shallow baking dish, toss in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 20 minutes, until the tomatoes are slightly wrinkled (toss tomatoes half way through cooking time).

Cook pasta according to package directions (or your preferred "doneness" - I think the package directions usually make it a bit mushy for my taste).

Heat high sided pan over medium-high heat, add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, sear sausage (mine were fully cooked, if the sausage is raw, after you sear the sausage, reduce heat to low, add enough water or broth to cover the bottom of the pan, cover and cook for 10 minutes).  Remove sausage, add a splash of water or chicken broth and Swiss chard, cover and cook until wilted.  Add roasted tomatoes (with liquid) and break up the goat cheese as you add it in.  Stir until cheese is fully incorporated.  Using a slotted spoon add the pasta to the sauce (if you need a little more sauce add some of the cooking water from the pasta).

Serve the sausage on the side (that's what we did), or slice and add into the pasta and sauce.

This was a huge hit with my party of three, including our almost 14 month old who ate about the same amount I did.  I think the only down side was that there was a dish, a pot and a pan to clean after dinner.

Served two adults and one (hungry) toddler with enough leftovers for one lunch tomorrow.  If you had some crusty bread and a salad you could probably stretch it to serve four.

This will definitely make an appearance on our table again. 

What's a favorite meal you've come up with on the fly?