One dish meal: Dijon sausage and broccoli bake

In this case, it's one baking sheet. How to turn up the oven and empty your fridge to create a satisfying meal.

We are so blessed to be settling into Bellingham life. Each of us commutes twice a week to Seattle for work, which is turning out to be very doable. And we're living close to five grandparents, toting kids to soccer games and playdates, plotting the next phase of our remodel, and making friends. We are not, like so many people in the world, scrounging for our next meal or scheming about how to get our children health care. We are not victims of political unrest or war. We are not waiting in long lines for fuel or applying for assylum. I'm aware, more and more every day, that our reality is not the world's reality. The fact that I can find time and bandwidth to write about food and community means I've been given so much. I just have to say this every once in awhile.

And I have to say, "One Baking Sheet!!" That's all you need for a great dinner. If you've got parchment paper, even better. Bon Appetit has a great feature on this that's inspiring. I've taken to roasting everything – sausages, fish, prawns, bok choy, broccoli, caulifower. Of course, there are the standards like peppers, potatoes, eggplant, onions, zucchini. I've heard Lynne Rossetto Kasper of The Splendid Table say that when she doesn't know what to cook for dinner, she walks in the door, turns the oven to 425 degrees F., and then opens the fridge. I find myself in a similar pattern these days.

Depending on your ingredients, you can start things at different times (as I do here), separate them on the sheet if you don't want them mingled, or mix everything up and throw it in all at once. An essential tip is that the closer things are together, the more they will steam and not roast. They'll still cook, but without the delectable crispy edges.

Dijon Sausage and Broccoli Bake
Serves 4 with some highly unlikely leftovers.

First step:
6-8 fat sausages (Italian, bratwurst, etc.)
2 coarsely chopped red, yellow, or orange peppers
1 coarsely chopped onion
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons coarse dijon mustard 
A squeeze of lemon or some lemon zest

Second step:
Bunch of baby broccoli, coarsely chopped (stems included) 
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt, to taste 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. and line a large jelly roll pan (baking sheet with sides) with parchment paper or foil.

In a large bowl, combine the sausages with the peppers, onion, olive oil, coarse salt, dijon mustard, and citrus. Toss with your hands. Spread evenly on your baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the baby broccoli, olive oil, and salt. Add to roasting mixture after it's been in the oven for 10 minutes, and roast for 15 minutes more, until sausage is bubbling and charred in places and everything's crisping up.

Dump everything into a pretty bowl, put in the middle of the table, and serve with potatoes or bread, if you like. And maybe a dallop of dijon.

Related post on In Praise of Leftovers: Roast Chicken with Fennel, Olives, Potatoes, and Tomatoes

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