After spending much of the day helping a friend at the farmer’s market, I wanted to make a relatively simple salad tonight. I saw that I had a leftover grilled garlic sausage from dinner the other day and thought of the classic combination of sausage and peppers. Oftentimes, this combination is on a bun with a bit of good mustard. I decided instead of grilling the peppers too, I’d keep them raw and quickly marinate them in a grainy mustard vinaigrette. It would take the raw bite out of the pepper but still keep a pleasant crunchy texture to them.

Grilled Sausage and Marinated Pepper Salad with Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette

For the Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette:

1 Tbsp grainy mustard (I used homemade, but any grainy mustard is fine)

2 Tbsp white vinegar

1 Tbsp cold pressed flax oil

   Add all of the ingredients to a medium bowl and whisk together to combine. Set aside.

For the salad:

1 cup garlic sausage, cut into thin slices, then each slice cut into julienne 1cm (1/2″) wide

2 cups bell peppers (I like two different colours for visual appeal), cut into 1 cm (1/2″) strips

4 green onions, finely sliced

1 Tbsp fresh oregano

Reserved Grainy Mustard Vinaigrette

   In the medium bowl with the vinaigrette, add the peppers and stir to coat them in the vinaigrette. Allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to coat each pepper. Add the sausage, green onions and oregano. Stir to coat it all in vinaigrette. Divide over 2 plates. Serves 2.