Name: Chicken Sausage with Braised Red Cabbage and Potatoes
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Ingredients: 1½ pounds small red potatoes , unpeeled, halved; ¼ cup vegetable oil; Salt and pepper; 1½ pounds cooked chicken-apple sausage; 1 onion , halved and sliced thin; 1 head red cabbage (2 pounds), cored and shredded; 1½ cups apple cider; 1 Granny Smith apple , peeled and grated; 2 bay leaves; 1½ teaspoons minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried; 2 tablespoons cider vinegar; 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Why This Recipe Works

Precooked chicken sausage, browned for a quick flavor boost, kept things easy, and braising cabbage in cider with grated apple, bay leaves, and thyme offered complexity and kept the texture intact. Returning the sausage to the skillet partway through cooking helped marry the dish's sweet, salty, and tart flavors. A hit of cider vinegar rounded things out, and small red potatoes (1 to 2 inches in diameter) cooked quickly in the microwave (if your potatoes are larger, be sure to quarter them). We also browned them in the skillet to quickly crisp them.

Before You Begin

Chicken sausage is available in a variety of flavors; feel free to substitute any flavor that you think will pair well with this dish. You will need a 12-inch skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe. The skillet will be very full once you add the cabbage in step 3, but will become more manageable as the cabbage wilts.

Instructions

Toss potatoes with 1 tablespoon oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in bowl. Cover and microwave, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes; drain well.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add sausage and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes; transfer to platter.

Add onion and ½ teaspoon salt to fat left in skillet and cook over medium heat until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in cabbage, cider, apple, bay leaves, and thyme. Cover and cook until cabbage is softened, about 15 minutes.

Nestle sausage into vegetables, cover, and cook until cabbage is very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer until liquid is almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer sausage to platter and discard bay leaves. Stir vinegar into vegetables and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer vegetables to platter with sausage and tent with aluminum foil.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to now-empty skillet and heat over medium heat until shimmering. Add potatoes, cut side down, and cook until browned, 2 to 5 minutes. Transfer to platter with sausage and cabbage, sprinkle with chives, and serve.