Broccoli Rabe & Sausage

At least once a week I will make myself broccoli rabe for dinner.  I use to hate it when I was younger.  My mom would make it with sausage and orecchiette, and I would always pick out the broccoli rabe.  I don't know what happened, but one day it became my favorite vegetable.  It is healthy, easy to make, and always available at the store.  I will always pair it up with some meat, ether grilled chicken, chicken sausage, sausage, or salmon, and sometimes toss it with sausage and pasta pasta.  I didn't feel like having pasta the other night, so I decided to roast up some potatoes.  The result was a nice plate of broccolli rabe and crumbled hot sausage and some roasted parmesean potatoes.   It was a great meal that filled me up and made for a great lunch at work a couple of days later.

-Lunch Pail

Broccoli Rabe and Crumbled Hot Sausage, Garlic, Red Pepper, and Olive Oil.

Roasted Potatoes coming out of the oven

Ready to eat

Just as good for lunch a couple of days later

The Healthy Italian

New Job, but the same old sandwich.  Here is the lunch Mike Lungariello enjoyed on his third day at his new job.  He has had this sandwich many times before from A&S Deli in Norwalk, CT, but I am sure it hasn't ever tasted as good as it did the other day.  Things always seem better during the start of a new job.  Mike named this sandwich comprised of Broccoli Rabe, Grilled Chicken, and Hot Peppers on a Hard Roll the "Healthy Italian".  Unlike most Italian sandiwiches, this sandwich is not packed with salt, fat, and cholesterol (basically everything that makes anything taste good). This is a great sandwich, I have had it a few times with grilled chicken, but usually opt for sausage and brocolli rabe combo.  What caught my attention was the hard roll.  In my past experiences at A&S Norwalk, the round rolls they provide are the knot rolls,  This is a true hard roll with a nice crust and not too doughy inside.  Like I have said before, the bread makes the sandwich, and that looks like some good bread.

He was the sandwich down with a diet Manhattan Special which is an espresso flavored soda found in most Italian Deli's.  If you have never had it, try it the next time you see it.  I like the Manhattan Special Vanilla Cream soda over the espresso flavored.

Good looking hard roll.  Can't get too healthier than this.

Don't mind the Circus Boy

Here was tonights dinner: Grilled Chicken Sausage with Sauted Broccoli Rabe Dog. Pretty simple concept, I cooked the sausage on my indoor grill pan, and sauteed the broccoli rabe with olive oil, crushed red pepper, garlic, and steamed it with a little bit of chicken broth at the end.



Then came the dog assembly as follows: New England style hot dog roll, provolone cheese, chicken sausage, brown mustard, brocoli rabe, grated cheese. It was awesome and such a good combination. Dont be afraid of the mustard and don't mind the Magic Hat Circus Boy.



- LUNCH PAIL