Exit Strategy: Sheet Pan Meals

This is a three-in-one: quick, uses lots of veggies, easy clean up. 

The concept: cook a bunch of things on one sheet pan. 

The magic: the juices and flavors combine to make everything taste amazing. 

So we all need exit strategies, right? Those week's end strategies to get lots of veggies that will otherwise go soft/rotten/slimy (and make us feel guilty -- we've all found the moldy cuke in the back of the fridge before!).

One such method: sheet pan meals!

All I needed was my veggie share and some flavorful sausage. In this case I used kielbasa and bratwursts. 

Sheet Pan Meal: Sausage wrapped in greens, beets, roasted snap peas

Use whatever you have left in your fridge that can stand a little roasting.

6 sausages (enough for leftovers)

6 - 12 leaves of chard (or something similar. I tried this twice this week and found kale to be too rubbery still after cooking, but chard and beet greens were fantastic, especially the chard!)

2 - 3 beets (medium), peeled and sliced thin

about 4 Tablespoons olive oil, divided (you could use bacon grease or any kind of lard, too) 

2 cups snap peas, stems removed

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

First, cut out the stem of the chard and set it aside. Don't compost! I add them to stir fries and sautees -- they are sort of like celery in cooking time and texture. They are also good for stock, so if nothing else, add them to your stock bag in the freezer. 

Sausage wrapped in beet greens. 

Then wrap each sausage in one to two pieces of chard. They soak up the juices from the meat, and were perhaps my favorite part of the meal. It depends on the size of the leaf and how thick you want your veggie "bun" to be. 

Thinly slice the beets and toss them with your fat of choice -- I used olive oil for the peas and coconut for the beets. I also sprinkled a blend of salt and rosemary, sage, oregano, parsley and pepper. 

I put the beets and sausage on one sheet pan, and the peas on another. However, I think flip flopping them would be best -- that way the peas could get the flavor of the sausages and soak them in. Thinly sliced beets turn into delicious beet chips in the oven, and they always taste good. 

In any case, you slip all this in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until the sausages are done. 

You have two pans, a knife and a cutting board to clean up. Blamo! Easy peasy lemon squeezy. 

Want other Exit strategies? Try Pesto, or blanching and freezing!