Sep 17, 2020

It is soccer season at the Mills’ house, and with 3 boys in 3 different leagues, we have lots of quick-to-prep meals in mind. Sheet pan meals are always a winner in my book, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Removing seeds from the muscadines is by far the lengthiest step and is 100% worth it! Vivian Howard of the PBS series A Chef’s Life and author of Deep Run Roots inspired this recipe. We subbed out link sausage for chicken sausage and changed the lemony mustard to a balsamic glaze because that is what we had on hand.

Vivian’s storytelling is as remarkable as her innovative Southern cuisine, and she helped me fall in love with Southern ingredients and look more fondly on my rural upbringing where I spent summers picking okra for allowance money. She organizes her cookbook by ingredients so when my friend dropped off a gallon of muscadines, I knew right where to look. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

-Erin

Make it a Meal: I served this with yellow rice. You could really use any type of grain or rice including quinoa, couscous, pasta or even sorghum for a real Southern twist. (Sorghum takes a looong time to cook though so if you go this route, pull out your crockpot so you don’t have to fool with it that long). Also, I’m thinking some fancy cheese grits would make this restaurant menu worthy.

Yield: This sheet pan meal fed my crew (2 adults and 4 children under 10) with some leftovers.

Muscadine, Chicken Sausage and Brussels Roast

Ingredients:

3 chicken apple sausages sliced diagonally (We used Aidell brand)
3 cups of muscadines, halved and seeded
3 cups Brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved. (This time of year, you could also buy them already shaved and skip that piece of work!)

Balsamic glaze (storebought) or make your own by simmering balsamic vinegar on low heat on the stove while your meal cooks.

Directions:

Toss sausage, muscadines and Brussels with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 425F for 25 minutes. Drizzle with Balsamic glaze.

Storage Tips: This definitely isn’t a meal that would lend itself to freezing well after it’s cooked but we doubt you’ll have many leftovers. It would be good thrown on top of some spinach or spring mix for a next day work lunch salad. (Maybe even add toasted pecans and a little goat cheese on top?!)