SEVEN OR LESS
Sauté sausage, spinach for quick meal

By Sarah Fritschner
Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal

Food marketers have taken to washing spinach for us, making fresh spinach one of the cornerstones of quick, nutritious meals.

Pair the leaves with a flavorful loose-ground sausage, and you can make dinner quickly with a minimum of ingredients.

Italian sausage and regular (unsmoked) breakfast sausage both make tasty mixtures.

One medium onion equals about 1 cup chopped. Or you can use 1 cup of frozen, chopped onion. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the sausage if it doesn't give off much fat, otherwise your onion and garlic will cook unevenly.

Be sure to start cooking your rice before you begin the sausage mixture.

Sausage-Spinach Skillet Dinner

• 1 pound smoked sausage, loose-ground, or breakfast sausage
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, about 2 teaspoons chopped
• 2 (6-ounce) bags baby spinach
• 3 cups cooked rice

Place the sausage in a wide skillet. Cook over medium heat, breaking it up with a fork or spoon until it is a loose mixture. Add onion and garlic. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent. Add spinach; cover and cook until wilted, 2 minutes or so. Serve over rice.

Serves four to six.

Serve with a salad dressed with a vinaigrette made with 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon of mustard; add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes four servings.

Nutritional analysis not available.