Cowboy Beans with Smoked Sausage

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year's Eve.  Now it's back to reality.  And January.  Ugh, January.  My least favorite month of the year.  Did you start a new diet?  Or at least resolve to eat better?  I have to be honest, I hate winter so much that I tend to go in the complete opposite direction: comfort food.  Winter really gets me down, so there is no way I am making it through this month by eating salads.  Sorry to disappoint if you are looking for healthier fare, but I'll be sharing mostly comfort foods and soups this month.

One ingredient that pops up a lot when I am craving comfort food is beans.  I love beans.  This is a recipe I created when I set out to make another recipe but found I was missing some ingredients.  It's kind of like barbecued beans with smoked sausage.  Really good on cornbread.


Cowboy Beans with Smoked Sausage

Ingredients:
½ onion, sautéed
14-16 oz. pkg. smoked sausage, chopped
1 can butter beans, drained
1 can mild chili beans, w/sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
¼ cup barbecue sauce
¼ cup ranch dressing
Cornbread, if desired

Directions:
Sauté onion until soft.  Add smoked sausage and cook until browned.  Add all other ingredients and heat through.  Serve over warm cornbread.

Makes 4 servings.

I love this recipe not only because of how yummy it is, but because it takes just a few minutes to throw together.  Great for a busy weeknight.

While this is comfort food at its best, you can easily lighten this dish up a bit.  You can use turkey or chicken sausage which is lower in fat and calories than the original pork.  You can also use light ranch dressing and cut down on the brown sugar.

What are your favorite comfort foods?