Easy Peasy 30 Minute Recipe | How To Make Tangy Vienna Sausages with a Tasty Avocado & Tomato Pasta Salad

If you are looking for a quick to make, relatively simple recipe that tastes delicious, be sure to try out the one below. The light, creamy, tomato, avocado & pasta salad teamed with a warm, tangy, mouthwatering sausage side dish is one sure to make you want to whip it up again and again, and the best part is, you could be enjoying it in under 30 minutes....

For the Salad:

• Pasta (any shape/size)
• Cucumber
• Tomato/cherry tomatoes
• Avocado
• Lemon/Lime
• Tagine Sauce
• Salt / Pepper
• Olive Oil

For the Vienna Sausages:

• One Tin Vienna Sausages
• One Small Onion
• Tagine Sauce (or any tangy alternative you have to hand)
• Pinch of Salt
• One Clove of Garlic
• 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
• 4-6 tablespoons of Ketchup (depending on individual tastes)
• One Capful of Vinegar

One ingredient that can really enhance the taste of the salad is parmesan cheese. If you are a die hard cheese fan, like myself, leave the lemon out of the recipe, add a little less Tagine Sauce, and throw in a handful of grated parmesan cheese - it tastes scrumptious with the avocado!

After trying many different pasta recipes, I have come to the conclusion, that one of the tastiest & quickest ways to cook it is the recipe I am going to share with you today. If you have all the ingredients to hand, it should take around 15-20 minutes to prepare this part of the recipe.

1. Firstly, boil water, add the pasta, salt and a few drops of oil (to stop the pasta from sticking together), and leave for an additional 5-10 minutes. As we will be making a pasta salad, its better to drain the water out of the pasta once they are cooked, but firm ('al dente' ).

I have not specified the quantities for ingredients for the pasta salad as, quite simply, its entirely down to you how much you intend to make. If you have leftover pasta salad, it can go in the fridge for you to eat as a quick, relatively healthy snack later, so based on how much of each ingredient you would like, add accordingly.

2. Cube the avocado, cucumber and tomato. When chopping the tomato, make sure you take out the soft section in the middle, otherwise it will make the pasta salad wet, and soggy (two attributes you don't want your salad to have, especially if you want to make enough for later!).

3. Once the pasta is drained and still hot/warm, add the cucumber, avocado and tomato cubes and mix roughly.

4. Lastly, add a pinch of salt and pepper, a tablespoon or two of olive oil (no more than this), a squeeze of lemon/lime, and a few tablespoons of Tagine Sauce. I used the Moroccan Tagine Sauce I had at home, adding one tablespoonful for two servings of salad.

5. Toss the salad well, and refigerate.

I know this isn't the most healthiest dish to make, but if you need a filling, creamy, hearty meal, or just a quick meal option to take to work, then this is definitely worth cooking at least once! It only takes around 30 minutes to prepare, so give it a go next time you just don't feel like slaving away for hours in the kitchen!

If you are not a Pasta fan, you can always make some vegetable rice (or egg fried rice) to eat with the finger-licking vienna sausages - it makes for a great, filling supper!

I can assure you, this is one of the tastiest ways you will ever have tasted Vienna Sausages~ I hated the taste & texture of the sausages when I first tried them, but a few experiments and a good few tins of sausages later, I created this version, & my husband can't get enough of it!

1. Slice the small onion thinly, add the olive oil to a hot frying pan and sauté the onions lightly. Grate one clove of garlic into the onions and mix. At this stage you can add a pinch of salt and pepper (I normally use all purpose seasoning to give me a fuller taste).

2. Whilst the onion and garlic are lightly frying (on low heat), drain the Vienna Sausages and chop each piece into 4 sections (to make small disks). Add them into the onion mixture, with a capful of vinegar, and shallow fry. You will have to fry on high heat for around 5-10 mins, giving it a good mix every few minutes, until you can see the sausage pieces are getting lightly browned.

Note: You have to ensure two things when cooking the sausages: firstly, keep the onions on low heat whilst chopping the sausages (you only want to soften the onions before adding the sausages, you don't want to brown them, or else they will burn whilst the sausages are cooking). Secondly, you have to turn the heat on high once you do add in the sausages, so that they are well browned (otherwise you will still get the soft texture of the vienna sausages, one of the things I didn't love about the sausages).

3. Once the sausage pieces are browned, stir in the Tagine Sauce and the Ketchup and let the mixture simmer on low heat for a few minutes. If you would prefer more sauce, you can add another tablespoonful of the ketchup - be careful with how much you add, or it can make the end result too sweet.

4. That's it!! now that both the dishes are complete, you can eat a cool, light pasta/avocado/tomato salad, with some warm, sticky, tangy vienna sausages - I'm sure you will agree with me, it tastes great!

...you can check out one of my other pasta based recipes that I make very often, its for a feta cheese and tomato pasta dish ~ everyone that tries it, loves it...

...then you can take a look at some of my other articles below that touch on healthy eating, and easy lifestyle changes you can make to improve your diet.

4 Health Benefits of Juicing Vegetables and Fruits

The whole of the dieting and nutrition world has been buzzing about the health benefits of juicing for a hot minute now, but really what is it and how could it help you live a healthier life? This article covers four health benefits of juicing, how juicing provides a nutrient, vitamin and mineral rich, low calorie punch of energy and why it is a great way to get the nutritional benefits from fruits or vegetables you may not normally eat (like beets or spinach).

Carbohydrates, Proteins & Fats | Why do we Need them in our Daily Diet?

We always hear about ‘a healthy balanced diet’…but what exactly does that mean? Terms like ‘carbohydrates’, ‘proteins’ and ‘fats’ are used by our Doctors, Pharmacists and other health professionals when they are telling us what types of food are best for us but what roles do these nutrients play in our bodies?..And why do we need to have them in our daily diet?

This article explains it all...