Spicy Chicken Sausage with Caramelized Onions and Chard

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Spicy Chicken Sausage with Caramelized Onions and Chard – When the days get shorter and the weather cools off, I love to serve dishes that are both hearty and nutritious. This is the perfect dish to warm you on those colder fall and winter nights. The spicy chicken sausage, onions and chard work together to make one tasty dish. Paired with my seasoned quinoa the whole meal is filling and yet healthful at the same time. – spicy Italian chicken sausage (Preferably Organic Chicken & Gluten Free), yellow onion (thinly sliced), Swiss Chard (chopped, preferably organic), cherry or grape tomatoes (halved), water, dry thyme (hand crushed), Sherry Vinegar, Avocado oil or Olive Oil, sea salt (to taste), Freshly ground black pepper (to taste), For the Seasoned Quinoa: dry quinoa, water, fennel seeds, black peppercorns, Garlic (thinly sliced), , For the Seasoned Qunioa: Place two cups of water in a medium sized sauce pan and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Measure 1 cup of dry quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse under cold tap water. ; Once the water is boiling, carefully add the quinoa to the pan. Reduce the heat to low, add the fennel seeds, sliced garlic and peppercorns to the pan. Stir and cover the pan tightly with a lid. Cook for approximately 15 min. until all the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is fully cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside until ready to serve. ; For the Caramelized Onions: Heat a large saute pan with 1 tbsp avocado oil or olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and reduce the heat to medium. Sprinkle the onions with a little salt to help release the liquid in the onions. Cook for approximately 4 minutes until the pan is dry.; Add 1/2 cup water to the pan stir and cover the pan with a tight fitting lid. Cook the onions for approximately 10 minutes until they are soft. Then uncover the onions, add the crushed dry thyme and freshly ground pepper and cook for approximately 15 minutes more until the onions are browned slightly. Remove the onions from the pan. Set aside and cover the onions to keep them warm. ; For the Sausage & Chard: Using the same pan where the onions were cooked, add the links of sausage to pan and cook them over medium to medium high heat until browned on all sides and thoroughly cooked through. About 15-20. If you are using already cooked sausage, the cooking time will about half. Once the sausages are fully cooked and browned on all sides, remove them from the pan and set them aside. Cover to keep them warm. ; Add the other 1/2 cup water to the hot pan where the sausage and onions were cooked. Deglaze the pan over medium high heat by gently but firmly scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula until all the brown bits have been lifted and the bottom of the pan is clean.; Add the chopped chard and tomatoes to the pan and saute over medium hight heat in the deglazing liquid until the chard is wilted and the tomatoes are soft. Add a couple splashes of sherry vinegar and some salt and pepper to the pan. Add the onion back to the pan and stir. Lower the heat to medium and let the chard and onions simmer for a minute while you slice the sausage links. Once sliced, add the sausage back to the pan and stir all the ingredients together. Cook for approximately 2 minutes more to insure the sausage is warm. Serve over the seasoned quinoa and spoon some of the sauce from the sausage and chard mixture over the top. Enjoy!; ; – Feel free to experiment with the seasonings in the quinoa.  Quinoa is basically a blank canvas; not having much flavor of its own.  I have found it is easy to add a lot of flavor by adding an array of dried seeds and spices  to the quinoa while it cooks.  Fresh sliced garlic works well too.  It cooks down and basically melts into the final dish while imparting a lot of great flavor.  Lemon and orange zest work well too, but make sure you use organically grown fruit so that you are not adding chemicals to your finished dish. I like to use coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns (black, green, white or pink), cloves and cinnamon stick, in various combinations to create unique flavors of quinoa that compliment the main dish I'm serving. Try your favorite combinations the next time you cook quinoa. – Dinner – Main Dish – American – Italian – Dairy Free – Gluten Free – Healthy Comfort Food – Low Carb