Jalapeño - Cheddar Sausage Soft Tacos with Chioggia Beet Salsa

I've been making a lot of comfort food lately, and I wanted to change things up a little. I had some jalapeño and cheddar sausages, and I thought they would make great tacos. I shredded some Napa cabbage to go on top. I made a salsa with chioggia beets, lime juice, cilantro, and onion to go with. I had made some ancho chili polenta the other day, so I sliced that thin and fried it up. I made some black beans with onion and cumin as a side. I warmed up some flour tortillas to wrap everything in.

The sausages were Johnsonville Jalapeño & Cheese Smoked Sausages. I liked them. They were moderately spicy, and the cheese kept them moist. I sliced the sausages in sixths lengthwise, then into thirds, to make little fingers. I fried them until brown over medium-high heat.

For the beans, I started with a can of Bush's Seasoned Recipe Black Beans, then added 1/4 onion, diced, 1 teaspoon cumin, and a pinch of salt.

The polenta I had made earlier in the week, thinking I would use the sausages, when a friend called and wanted to do dinner before flying out of  town. So, the polenta got stored in the refrigerator for later. I'm inherently lazy, so wanted to find a method to make polenta in a rice cooker. I found this recipe, which was my inspiration. I mixed water, polenta, cumin, ancho chilies, and salt in the rice cooker. It cooked perfectly. Since I could not use it the day I made it, I stored it in a rectangular container, and it firmed up nicely. I popped it out of the container, and sliced it thin. I fried the slices in a tiny bit of olive oil over medium-high heat, until golden brown.

Recipes

Ancho Chile Polenta

1 cup polenta
3 cups water
3 dried ancho chilies, de-stemmed, de-seeded, and chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt

Place all ingredients in a rice cooker. Switch to cook. When the cooking cycle is complete, let stand on warm 10 to 15 minutes, until it is the consistency you want. The longer you wait, the thicker it gets. If stored in the refrigerator, it will firm up enough to slice.

Chioggia Beet Salsa

3 small chioggia beets, finely diced
1/4 medium yellow onion, diced
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt

Place diced beets in a small sauce pan with enough water to cover. Simmer over medium-low heat until tender, about 3 - 5 minutes. Drain, run under cold water to cool. Mix all ingredients, let stand in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Happy Eating!