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Sometimes a perfect meal just falls into your lap. I’d been trying to ignore the vegan sausages in my fridge for three days, not sure what to do with them, when I received an unexpected visitor. I’m lucky to live in a neighborhood that has all sorts of people who are always helping each other out. My neighbor, let’s call him Paul, needed to borrow my stepstool to help him reach something. I was delighted to receive a bundle of carrots in exchange for my help!

A few minutes later, my friend Bernice showed up. I could tell she wanted to sing, so I sang along with her while I swept my floor. Once she’d had enough, I turned around to realize there had been a few perfect, round apples sitting right on my counter all along. But I still wasn’t quite sure what to do for dinner.

The final piece clicked into place when Emmett, our neighborhood protector, showed up on my doorstep. He doesn’t talk much, but I eventually figured out that he wanted help digging up some potatoes–and he let me keep a few for my trouble! And then I knew what I was going to do for dinner.

The main ingredients for a comforting autumn meal were all there, but I knew it needed some crunch to really make the texture pop. Fortunately, it hadn’t rained since I had drawn the summoning circle on the sidewalk a few days before. It still had more than enough remaining energy for me to summon a few handfuls of perfect slivered almonds.

Assembling the meal was quick and easy, and it made my kitchen smell great. I invited Paul, Bernice, and Emmett over for dinner. Bernice, being a ghost, doesn’t really eat, but she loved being around the smell of food; golems don’t have a stomach, but Emmett stored some in his mouth for later. Paul may be a gnome, but he has a surprisingly large appetite! The quantity was just right for the four of us, with a generous helping of leftovers.

This quick, easy autumn meal is perfect for entertaining unexpected guests.

Recipe

Takes about an hour. Serves four.

Ingredients

  • Sausages (4 or so)

  • Diced potatoes (2-3 cups)

  • Diced apples (2-3 cups, about 2 large apples)

  • Chopped carrots (2 cups, about 5 small carrots)

  • Slivered almonds (1/2 cup)

  • Thyme (a spoonful)

  • Salt (to taste)

  • Apple cider vinegar (a splash or two)

  • Olive oil or other cooking oil

  • Butter (1 tbsp)

Instructions

  1. Chop the potatoes, apples, and carrots.

  2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the sausages to the skillet and brown over medium heat. Remove from the skillet and set aside.

  3. Add more oil to the skillet, then put in the potatoes and a bit of salt. Brown the potatoes somewhat. Once you start seeing some color, add water to the skillet and cover to steam the potatoes.

  4. While the potatoes are cooking, toast the almonds in a small pan over low heat with no oil.

  5. Add butter and thyme to the potatoes. Cook, stirring, for about a minute.

  6. Add carrots and apples to the skillet. Like the potatoes, these will need some time with the lid off and some time to steam (with added water) with the lid closed.

  7. Slice the cooked sausages while everything else cooks.

  8. Once the carrots can be easily pierced with a fork and the apples have softened and started to break down, add the sliced sausage, toasted almonds, and vinegar. Stir and cook for a minute or two.

  9. Taste and enjoy! You may need to add salt depending on how salty your sausages were.

Notes

I used vegan sausage, but I’m sure real sausage would also be fine.