Dad in the kitchen: a 15 minute menu

I have three siblings. When we were all young, it was usually my mom getting dinner on the table and my dad did clean up. On the nights my mom was working late, my dad had to take the reins. This was not a task he relished. I remember the menu varied between popcorn or hot dogs, or for special nights, both.

My dad can cook several things well; he is an excellent grill master and can make a turkey "stewp" - an extra thick stew - that will knock your socks off. Beyond these cooking niches, he continues to minimize time spend cooking. He surprised my mom and I by offering to cook dinner, and what a lovely meal he whipped up! It was healthy, delicious and ready in 15 minutes.

Here is the menu:

• Sweet potatoes: poke a few holes into the skins and pop whole sweet potatoes and microwave until soft. This may take 5-10 minutes, but depends on the strength of your microwave and the size of your potatoes. 
• Chicken sausages: look for a type that is lower in fat and not loaded with sodium. Slice each sausage lengthwise and cook in a skillet until well browned. We served our sausages with brown mustard.
• Tossed salad: while potatoes are microwaving and sausages and browning, toss together an assorted mixture of colorful vegetables. We added pickled beets that I had canned earlier this year and sunflower sprouts from Growing Power. Both were delicious. 

That's it! Dinner was healthy, delicious and ready in a snap. If Mr. Popcorn can do it, so can you!

Cheers.