I was in a spring cleaning kind of mood for my freezer. You see, overtime, I’ve developed a habit so as to keep me in check. Before I replenish my stock, I often do a stock count. When you’re working from a tight budget like I do it’s imperative to make this move before hitting the stores. I hate to duplicate when I could purchase a much-needed food item.
I never normally stock hot dogs; not that I don’t enjoy a great one once in a while. However, if I wish to indulge in one or two, I do so at an eatery with all the add-ons. Oh, I love relish, ketchup, onions and a little mustard. But anyway, I blame this on my nephew. He came to visit a few months ago. You know teenagers; he requested hot dogs, so I granted his wish and bought a package of Nathan’s beef franks.
We both devoured(well, he had most). Frankly, I thought they were all gone until I did a check of my freezer. I found them nestled in near to the ham bone. Now, that’s another story, I need to use that up. It must have been the brilliant sunshine on the outskirts. It looked and felt like summer at the beach.After all, this is South Florida. I decided to make a stir-fry meal from my franks over a bed of linguine pasta.
I grabbed a skillet and did a quick three to four-minute boil of the beef franks. Boy, they stood out, ready for action. I got excited. I chopped up some veggies:
I roughly chopped onions,bell peppers, celery, tomatoes, scallion and garlic. These were placed in a hot skillet with a drizzle of olive oil. I allowed them to soften and then added the cut-up franks.
I made sure to season along with black pepper, a small pinch of salt (bearing in mind that franks have added sodium), a squeeze of ketchup,dried thyme and a splash of red wine vinegar. When all ingredients were softened and ready, I added drained linguine pasta and allowed it to simmer on low heat for another five minutes.
Guys, I couldn’t wait to dig in. I served my Nathan’s beef franks with a garnish of cilantro herb I had on hand.(ideal choice; not overpowering). As expected, the franks were just right; not too salty. The veggies provided a great balance and still possessed a little crispness to them. Moreover, the linguine pasta was hearty and complemented the dish superbly. Who says I have to eat my ‘bad boys’ (franks) only outside? Hmmm, I was happy.