I like to make a lot of “one dish” kind of meals at dinner. Mostly because it’s really easy to prep, super quick to make and with my outrageously busy schedule? Perfect for my lifestyle. At the same time too, it produces some pretty good leftovers for work the following day (which given how much I do the chicken/rice thing as part of my 5 meal thing – is very welcome).

Sometimes though, it’s really easy to get carried away with just how much you put into that dish. The goal is always: keep it simple. If you have to sit there, scratching your head as to what you put in it and how much? Odds are, you went a smidge overboard. I’m a color person, I like to have something red, something green and something yellow in each one-dish meal. I find that keeping my “colors” in the pot, by the time I’ve added my meat/poultry for that dish, I’m good and it’s simple. And it’s clean.

For the dish below I used a jalepeño chicken sausage that my local grocer had gotten in that day from the area butcher. It’s good to add a little zip and pizzaz, but your standard italian style chicken sausage is okay to use too. The quinoa used was undid, but feel free  to use black, red or white if you have the preference!

Chicken sausage and quinoa

• 1lb chicken sausage (cut into slices, then halved)
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1 c chopped shiitake mushrooms
• 2 handfuls baby spinach
• 1/4 c kalamatta olives
• 2 tbs chopped garlic
• 3 tbs olive oil
• Quinoa (this particular recipe was made with 1/2 c quinoa uncooked)

In a large skillet, add extra virgin olive oil and garlic. Heat on medium, browning garlic. Add red peppers, olives and mushrooms. Let cook for about 5 minutes. Then add sausage. While sausage is cooking with veggies, after a few minutes, turn heat to medium-low. Cook quinoa (1 cup water, 1/2 cup quinoa). Once the quinoa is finished (absorbed water and has the little “sprout” tails), add to sausage and veggies, mix in baby spinach. Cook for another 4-5 minutes (spinach will start to wilt a little).