American Stir Fry

Yesterday was absolutely insane. I had to work, then drive to school, then drive back to work for a meeting and by 2 o'clock- I realized that I hadn't defrosted anything for dinner. By 5 o'clock- I realized the only thing I had eaten all day was a granola bar. By the time I got home I was so hungry!! I knew I needed something quick and easy. When I saw some Polish Sausage in the fridge, I knew American Stir Fry was in order. American Stir Fry is something I came up on the fly a while back, when we had nothing to eat in the house. Every time I make it's a little bit different but it always has four things: Some type of sausage, potatoes, onions, and some type of vegetable.

The great thing about this recipe is you can really switch it up and make it your own. I usually go by whatever I have in the fridge/pantry. This time I had Polish Sausage, but I have made this with Bratwurst, Italian Sausage, even Hotdogs once. My personal favorite is using Bratwurst because the meat gives the whole mixture a wonderful deep taste.  So you start off by chopping up the meat into slices. Saute them in a large skillet or this time I used a small dutch oven and it worked really well. It only takes about a 3-4 minutes with Kielbasa until they get a nice crispy brown edge to them. Remove the from the pan and add in the vegetables.
  
This is something that is totally up to you what you want to add in.  I have done carrots, red peppers, spinach, frozen corn, frozen mixed veggies. This time I did potatoes, onions, and some leftover green pepper I had. I try and chop them all to the same size so that they cook evenly. The smaller you cut the potatoes, the faster they will cook. I also put the lid on the pot so that they get nice and soft. Then I let them cook for a couple minutes without the lid so that they get crispy on the outside.  About half way through I add in some chopped garlic. I have made the mistake before of putting the garlic in too early and it gets all black and bitter....gross.
 
Once everything gets all nice and tender and yummy, I dump the kielbasa back into the pot. I let everything cook for a couple minutes. And this time I added in some frozen peas at the end, it gives it a pop of color and some crispy-ness at the end. BOOM! You are done! Kinda looks like mush, but is so warm, amazing, and not low fat. Great on a night when it's 9 degrees outside. And the best is all you have to do is pair it with a biscuit and it's a complete meal. :)








American Stir Fry

TOTAL TIME: Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

MAKES: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 package of  Polish Kielbasa, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 5 red potatoes, cubed
• 1 green pepper chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped
• ¼ cup of frozen peas (optional)

Directions

1. In a large skillet or small pot, sauté kielbasa until brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Add olive oil to pan, and add potatoes, onions and green peppers in pan. Put lid on pan and let cook for 5-10 minutes until tender. Remove lid and let cook until browned.
3. Add in frozen peas if desired. Add Kielbasa back into pan, and stir and let cook for 2-4 minutes.