One of my favorite memories growing up is of Sunday afternoons for dinner at my Grandmother’s house. The delicious aroma of dinner cooking and pies baking is forever engrained in my mind.

I’m not sure if it came out of the Great Depression, but we often had boiled dinners, which consisted of some sort of kielbasa or salted pork boiled in a pot or pressure cooker with a head of cabbage, lots of potatoes, carrots and turnips.

Craving a warm Winter dish like I remembered, we updated the boiled dinner idea with:

1 package of Andouille Sausage links – cut up into 5 pieces each
1 package of frozen brussel sprouts (fresh is better, if available)
1 quart of canned red potatoes
1 pint of canned carrots
Add additional veggies your family prefers

Put all of the ingredients in about 6-8 cups of water (or to cover)
Boil until veggies are soft. If you are using canned vegetables, you can boil together for 15-20 mins until the meat flavors the veggies and makes a broth.
Serve with or without broth depending on what you prefer and a little pepper.
I find that the sausage adds more than enough salt for me.
This served 4 – add a piece of homemade bread to soak up the broth and it is just perfect.

This is a quick and easy way to have that substantial boiled dinner meal with much less time and no pressure cooker involved. I prefer the brussel sprouts because they are easier to work with and easier to portion for servings. Also – they are delicious and make a great replacement for the cabbage.