Summer Veggie Stir Fry -- Sausage, Summer Veggies and Quinoa

One of our family's favorite meals is this Summer Veggie Stir Fry. It's perfect because you can use any combination of veggies from your garden, or whatever is in your fridge or even freezer. So even though it's best during the summer with fresh veggies from the garden, you can actually make this year round and use frozen veggies for a delicious and easy weeknight meal.

This recipe originally came from a stuffed pepper recipe. My husband isn't a fan of stuffed peppers, so I took all of the ingredients and turned it into a bowl, and then just kept adapting it every time I made it until it turned into one of our staple meals. We usually have this a few times a month and it's great because you can double up the recipe and have a few meals, which I love so I don't have to cook every night. 

Summer Veggie Stir Fry

Ingredients:

-- 2 13 oz packages of Smoked Turkey Sausage 
-- 1 medium size Zucchini 
-- 1 Bell Pepper 
-- 1 10 frozen package of Butternut Squash
-- 1 cup of Cherry Tomatoes 
-- 1 cup of dry Quinoa
-- Salt, pepper and Italian Seasoning to taste

*Note these amounts will make ~5-6 servings

Directions:

Heat up your pan with some avocado oil. Dice up your veggies and cut the sausage into rounds. Also begin cooking the quinoa according to package directions.

Add your zucchini and bell pepper to the pan and stir and cook until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Add salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. While this is cooking, heat up your frozen butternut squash in the microwave, according to package directions. Or if you are using a fresh butternut squash, you may want to dice and roast for 20-25 mins on 400 degrees.

Once veggies are cooked, add the sausage and cook until heated throughly. Add your tomatoes and cook until they start to burst, then add your cooked butternut squash. You can add some more salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste. I like to add a little bit at a time to each layer as it get's added to the pan.

Serve the sausage and veggie mix over quinoa. You can add hot sauce (or Sweet Chili Sauce like my Husband prefers) or parmesan cheese, or fresh herbs to finish it off. 

Note you can add any type of veggies you want to. Sweet potatoes, snap peas, green beans, asparagus or corn would be yummy. You can also use rice instead of quinoa, or even serve over pasta. You could omit the sausage if you want a vegetarian dish, or I've even used chicken and drizzled Chick-Fil-A sauce over it, which was so very good! So many options to try. 

Enjoy!