Italian Sausage Stew

I know most people would put all this on pasta but I gave up pasta along with grains, soy and all dairy except for grass-fed butter. I do cheat but I don't waste my time on pasta ... let's just get to the good stuff already!

I started with some onions:

I also diced a few bell peppers as well. These all went in a pot with just enough water to not actually cover the food. These cooked up nicely after about 5 min on high. It gets the peppers and onions soft without having to sit there and watch the pot while I chop up other stuff:

They will get a little pan fried after I dump out most of the water and add some oil. Speaking of other stuff to chop up, I went with some jarred marinated artichoke hearts and sun dried tomatoes:

I threw in some regular diced tomatoes I had in the fridge because.. well, I love tomatoes! Everything goes in the pot:

Add plenty of garlic roughly chopped up and some that's been pushed through the garlic press. After that I  added some jarred tomato sauce. You could do tomato puree and add your own spices but I was going for quick and easy:

And of course who can forget these beauties:

I went with spicy hot Italian sausage that I cooked up in another saute pan. I decided I didn't want sausage chunks and so threw it in a food processor for about 8-10 pulses. Into the pot it goes ! Once everything has had a chance to simmer (as long as you can stand to wait or about 10-20 min) it is ready to eat!

Chicken Chorizo Stew

Last night I made a Chicken Chorizo Stew. It isn't super healthy due to the chorizo ( I actually used Soy-chorizo; cant tell the difference) but as there isn't that much used for a whole pot, I'll let you decide that for yourself!


2 chicken breasts cut up in to bite size chunks or equivalent amount of chicken tenders
1/2 package of chorizo sausage, chopped up or squeezed out of casing and broken apart
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can stewed tomatoes (recommended to get the ones with Mexican spices in it)
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2-3 cups chicken stock (depending on how stew/soup like you want it)
1 (15-ounce) can corn, drained, or two cups frozen
1/4 tbs ground cumin
1/4 tbs ground corriander

Suggested garnishes: sour cream, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, tortilla chips

Chop chicken into bite-size pieces and season with salt and pepper. Heat a medium soup pot and add extra-virgin olive oil. Add the chicken and chorizo to pot. Lightly brown, 2 minutes, then add cumin, coriander and garlic. Cook another 2 to 3 minutes, then add peppers, onions and celery. Cook 5 minutes until onions are glassy and tender, then stir in tomatoes, black beans, corn, and hot sauce. Add chicken stock and bring stew to a bubble.

Let simmer partially covered for 30 min before serving. Add garnishes if desired.