S is for Sausage Skewers for Kids Cook Monday

One food that I am usually guaranteed of getting Bear and Bee to eat for dinner is sausages.  I am sure they would happily eat sausages on bread and sausages with potato and gravy every night.  Only problem is - I'm not a big fan.  Never have been.  I don't mind sausages.  I even like some of the more gourmet (is that possible with sausages?) versions like lamb and feta or thai chicken.  But not enough to have them more than once a week.  So when I saw this idea on a children's tv program of threading sausages onto skewers with some vegies I knew we had to give it a go.

For our version we used some chicken and apricot flavoured sausages I had picked up at the supermarket yesterday.  Then we added red capsicum (red peppers) and dried apricots and glazed the skewers with a honey mustard mix and baked them in the oven so they were lovely and caramelised.  We served them with a simple couscous side dish.  The verdict? Absolutely delish!  The apricots were gooey and sweet and went so well with the sausages and the tangy capsicum.  And the couscous made a lovely change to mashed potato or rice.

Here's how we did it.

Chicken Sausage Skewers with Lemony Coucous
You can download a free printable recipe card for this recipe here.

Serves 2 adults and 2 children
Ingredients
375g chicken sausages, cooked
1/4 large red capsicum
100g dried apricots
10 bamboo skewers
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
3/4 cup couscous
1/2 cup sultanas
3/4 cup hot chicken stock
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped almonds

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C and line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.

2. Cut each sausage into even bite sized pieces, about 2cm long.  I precooked the sausages so they were cool enough for Bear and Bee to handle.  Cut the capsicum into thick strips and then into pieces about 2cm. If your child is not old enough to use a knife the capsium can be torn into bite sized pieces.

3. Thread the pieces of sausage, capsicum and apricots onto the skewers.  I had Bear and Bee count the pieces as we placed them onto the chopping boards and then they threaded them onto the skewers. It was also a good opportunity to get them to tray and follow the pattern I had created for them on a skewer (eg. sausage, apricot, capsicum, sausage, apricot, capsicum).



4. Place the finished skewers on to the baking tray.

5. Mix the honey and mustard in a small bowl and brush it over the skewers.

6. Bake the skewers for 15 to 20 minutes or until the vegetables have started to soften and turn golden brown on the edges.

7. While the skewers are baking, mix the couscous and sultanas in a medium heatproof bowl.

Rolling helps get more juice out of lemon and is fun for kids to do.

I saw this idea for squeezing lemons on the net.  It's great for kids to do.

 

 8. Pour over the hot stock and lemon juice and stir well.  Cover the bowl with a plate or lid and allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

 9. Fluff the couscous with a fork and stir in the almonds.

 10. Serve the couscous with the skewers.