Southern Style Roasted Peppers, Sausage and Shrimp

I have been going every summer to Garden City Beach, SC for twenty-five years. Each year I fall in love again and again with the humidity so thick you can reach out and grab it, the pelicans floating in the air, and the tall marsh grasses swaying in the wind. This corner of Murrells Inlet is a little slice of heaven-a place that every person that has ever been there is touched by. As soon as I hit the Mason Dixon line I start looking forward to the annual "Business" lunch that Andy and I share at a local restaurant perched above the marsh-perfectly fried hush puppies that are golden crispy on the outside and luxioursly fluffy on the inside, a big drink of cold sweet tea, and a blackened fish sandwich with southern style coleslaw piled high on top. Some of these things simply cannot be recreated in the North. This dish, though not a traditional Southern dish, was inspired by the flavors of the Southeast and is remniscent of a fish boil. I hope you enjoy this Southern Style Roasted Peppers, Sausage and Shrimp as much as I did. (I ate it for three meals if that is any indication....)

Here's What You Need:
7oz of sliced turkey kielbasa
3 peppers (red, yellow, green for example)*
1/6 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Approximately 15 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Seasoning (I used a combination of Penzey's Forward and Penzey's Seasoned Salt)
Flavored rice, cooked according to the package instructions (I like the Uncle Ben's microwaveable ones that take 90 seconds!)

Here's What You Do:
Preheat the oven to 450. Slice the peppers and divide them in half, use half for this recipe and say the other half for another recipe. Toss the peppers with the sausage in a baking pan and add in the olive oil, stirring to be sure each piece is coated. Generously season the sausage and pepper mixture. Bake for 15 minutes, tossing at least one time. Add in the shrimp, stirring to mix them in. Bake for another five minutes. Toss with the rice and serve. You can add hot sauce if you like it spicy too!

Two Dinners in One:

Double this recipe and use the mixture another night tossed into pasta. (Heat 1/2 cup of fat free half and half with 1.5 TBS flavored cream cheese (I used jalapeno) over medium low and toss with 1 cup of dried penne cooked according to the package instructions. Add in a big handful of spinach and a good dash of salt and pepper and serve.

Little Slice of Heaven...

Kid Tip:
Cut the pieces very small and toss with the rice. You can also serve it over pasta if your kids prefer pasta as noted above.

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