By The apartment complex is halfway done. Thirty units wired, thirty to go. Marcus is leading the team on the south wing while I handle the north with DeShawn and the new apprentices. It's the biggest operation I've ever run, and some days I feel like a general who doesn't know he's a general, giving orders that seem to make sense and hoping nobody notices that I'm figuring it out as I go. Fake it till you make it, they say. I've been faking it for three years and the lights still come on, so maybe I've made it. Or maybe faking it and making it are the same thing, and the difference is just confidence, and confidence comes from repetition, and repetition is just a roux by another name.
Danielle has taken over scheduling and client communication for the business, and the transformation is immediate and total. Clients who used to wait two days for a callback now get one within four hours. The schedule that used to live in my head (and occasionally on a napkin) now lives in a Google Calendar that everyone can see. She's working part-time on the business and full-time teaching, and I don't know how she does it, but the same woman who organized a flood relief drive and manages three children and keeps me alive can apparently also run a small business from her phone between grading papers. She is a force of nature. She is the hurricane that builds things instead of breaking them.
Made a chicken bog — a South Carolina dish, not Cajun, that I learned from a YouTube video and that has become a Beaumont regular. Chicken, sausage, rice, cooked in one pot. It's jambalaya's East Coast cousin: simpler, milder, but with the same one-pot convenience and the same "feed a family for $8" economics. Rémy declared it "good but not as good as jambalaya," which is accurate and also the most Cajun review possible.
The chicken bog was already gone by the time I thought to write down the recipe — Rémy made sure of that — but the spirit of it lives on in this skillet. When the days run long and Danielle’s still fielding client calls at 9 p.m. while grading papers with her other hand, I need something that comes together fast and feeds everyone without a second pot to wash. Sausage, vegetables, one pan, done. That’s not a recipe. That’s a philosophy.
Easy Sausage and Vegetable Skillet
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb smoked sausage (kielbasa or andouille), sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 medium zucchini, halved and sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Salt to taste
- Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- Brown the sausage. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage slices in a single layer and cook 3–4 minutes per side until browned. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Soften the aromatics. In the same skillet, add the onion and cook 3 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Cook the peppers. Add the red and green bell peppers to the skillet. Cook 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly tender.
- Add zucchini and seasoning. Stir in the zucchini, smoked paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook another 4–5 minutes until the zucchini is just tender but not mushy.
- Bring it together. Return the sausage to the skillet and add the cherry tomatoes. Stir everything together and cook 2–3 minutes until heated through and the tomatoes begin to soften.
- Serve. Taste for seasoning, garnish with fresh parsley, and serve straight from the skillet. Goes well over rice or with crusty bread.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 390 | Protein: 18g | Fat: 28g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 890mg