This Hawaiian sausage and peppers recipe as well as my Thai fried rice with pineapples remind me of my time on Hawaii’s Big Island — I’ve been there a number of times, and the longest that I’ve ever stayed was about three months. I always enjoyed being able to sample the diversity of local foods. Hawaii’s cuisine definitely reflects its history of settlement and immigration: it started with Polynesian explorers who planted coconut, sugarcane, and taro, and as these plantations grew, immigrant workers from Asian countries came as laborers and also introduced their native foods to the islands. Today, you can find a fusion of cuisines that’s very unique to Hawaii.
This recipe moves really fast. I recommend having all of your ingredients chopped, measured, and ready to go before heating up the pan, as the cooking time is only about 15 minutes. Perfect for a quick weeknight meal. I usually start the rice cooker first, so that the rice is being cooked while I sauté the sausage and peppers. Both the rice and the pan-fried sausage and peppers finish around the same time, so it works out nicely.
I love all of the flavors going on in this dish: the fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles add a nice spicy kick and the diced pineapples impart a juicy sweetness to every bite. The sausages are cooked Aloha chicken sausages from Gilbert’s Craft Sausages, which are tasty sausages that include pineapple, coconut, and ginger. If they’re not available near you, you can substitute with any cooked sweet sausage that’s available at your local market. The orange and yellow bell peppers add a lot of color to this dish; doesn’t it look and feel very tropical?
Ingredients
- 10 ounce package Aloha Chicken sausage, sliced
- 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
- 15 ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes with green chiles
- 1 cup diced pineapple
- 1/2 cup frozen green peas
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package instructions.
- Heat canola oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add sausage and bell peppers to the pan, cooking until the bell peppers are tender, 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add tomatoes (including the liquid in the can), pineapple, peas, salt, and pepper. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with rice.