BelJuWhat?

I asked The Grand Lunar, and he said I should first list the Kimodified Recipe, then the "inspiration piece", and so I will.

Tonight's dinner I will call "BelJut: The Spinach Hater's Sausage".

I had planned to make half a recipe, since I was very unsure of it's reception. Only I didn't really halve things, but decided based on ease, laziness, and some made up "health quotient" how much to include. I made one preparation-oriented substitution and one addition. The resulting Kimodified Recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:
1 - 12 oz. package of breakfast sausage links, chopped
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 - 10 oz. box of frozen, chopped spinach
1 - 32 oz. bag of frozen diced potatoes ("Western Style Hash Browns", containing only frozen potatoes & preservatives, no oils, spices, or other stuff)
2 Tbsp. minced garlic (I used the kind pre-minced in the jar, it's cheating, I know)
water to keep things moist (maybe 2 cups total by the end?)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Brown sausage until somewhat surfacy-crispy in a big pot. I added some water and let it cook completely off, I read that somewhere , sauté chopped onions with sausage.
• Pour off any remaining grease (um, there wasn't any? I'll pretend that doesn't mean the onions soaked it all up)
  
• Add frozen spinach, potatoes, garlic, and some water so it isn't sticking. Simmer on medium low, covered, until mixture is hot.
  
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Impressions:
Well ... it didn't kill us!!!
What do you say when someone tells you even spinach haters will like it? We decided "Will like it" is too strong. "Will not hate it" is a possibility. I, for one, am not quite a spinach hater. But I am far from a spinach liker. Having read that the potatoes and spinach would taste sausagy, we were wary, and rightly so. The sausage we liked. The potato wasn't bad, just a bit bland. And the spinach ... well, it still tasted like spinach. :)

Over all, neither Lunar, Baby Buzz, or I hated it. It was okay. Lunar and I felt it needed more ... something. We found it rather bland. Perhaps this was due to my proportion of sausage-to-potato being low. But if you hate spinach you will certainly not be fooled. Of the other 5 children, 4 declined to taste it. One tasted it and fumbled to politely say she didn't like it, because she thought we liked it, and didn't want to offend. She was relieved to hear us say it wasn't our favorite, either.

I have enough leftovers to do another Kimodification ~ I am thinking maybe a little half-and-half and chicken stock, a splash of vinegar or lemon juice, and more garlic might give it a new twist. I'll let you know.

Staci, I hope I haven't offended you!

Inspiration Piece: Staci's Beligain Jut (pronounced like Foot)

You might love this recipe if you like sausage and garlic. Because you can't really taste a "spinach-y" taste. The spinach tastes garlic-y and sausage-y. Only four ingredients are needed: sausage links, spinach, potatoes, and garlic

1) Brown a large package of sausage links (about 20 oz.) in a skillet until they are nicely browned and crispy;
2) Pour the sausage links into a pot and scrape the bottom of the skillet into the pot also for flavoring;
3) Pour in two boxes (or one lb. bag) of frozen cut spinach (you can also use fresh or canned);
4) Peel and cut about 8 potatoes and add those to the pot;
5) Add 2 heaping tsp. of minced garlic (I buy it in the jars); you can use more or less garlic depending on your taste
6) Add water just to cover the potatoes (keep your eye on it as it cooks and if you need to add a bit of water, do so)
7) Add salt and pepper to taste

Cook it on medium-low until the potatoes are tender. It's quick and easy and savory and most kids, believe it or not, like it because it has potatoes and sausage in it. When my kids were really young they wouldn't eat the spinach but as they grew older they realized the spinach tasted like sausage so now they eat that too.