This recipe was developed out of necessity. It goes back many years to a time when there were very few places where you could buy cooked meals to bring to someone who was ill. I can remember the first meal I delivered. I had packed a collection of sauce pans, wrapped them in towels, and placed them on baking trays in the trunk of my car, to protect against spilling. The snow was coming down and I drove as fast as I could, mindful of the icy road and the tree lined roadway. I arrived at dinner time, rang the bell, carried the food into the kitchen, sidestepping kids, the Newfoundland, and a variety of galoshes and scarves. Written directions were handed to the harried husband and then I left. There was roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, and gravy. I heard it was all delicious, but of course, what else could they say? Years later, I heard the green beans and carrots burned but with a little gravy, the Newfoundland loved them. The solution was the recipe I'm going to give you. It is almost impossible to ruin, unless you reheat it uncovered, allowing it to dry out. Then your only recourse, obviously, is to get yourself a Newfoundland.The really nice thing about this recipe is that once you've made it you will find yourself inventing your own variations.

-Little Meatballs with Pasta,
-Smoky Ham and Shrimp
-Tuna with Black Olives

We'll start with the Chicken and Polish sausage.

Ingredients

1 lb. of sausage, Polish Kielbasa is a good choice.

1 lb.of Polish sausage

2 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

2 medium onions, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp. salt

1 cup of white wine

2 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

¼ cup each of olive oil* and butter

2 stalks of celery. diced

2 carrots, diced

1¼ cups Jasmine rice* or white rice

1½ cups frozen broccoli or peas

1 red pepper in thin strips

¼ tsp each dried basil, dried parsley,

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and butter gently, add onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add uncut kielbasa, carrot, celery, red pepper, wine, broth,and rice. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer gently for about 25-30 minutes until the rice is tender, but not mushy. Add broccoli florets, cooked for about 10 minutes. If using frozen peas, add the frozen peas. Set aside.

Heat the oven to 425 and lightly oil a pan. Place chicken breasts on the pan and roast chicken breast until firm to touch about 25 minutes. Remove from oven.. Now you have choices. If there is room in your fridge for a large oven proof serving dish, you can arrange the ingredients on it, cover tightly with aluminum foil, put in the fridge until an hour before serving time. If however, space is limited, wrap chicken in aluminum foil tightly and refrigerate. Put the rice and kielbasa in a bowl. Adjust seasonings, cover tightly and refrigerate.

It all should come out of the fridge to warm up a bit about 15 minutes before heating. Preheat oven to 325, arrange the food in your serving (oven proof) dish, cover with aluminum foil tightly and heat until hot., about 25 -30 minutes. Uncover and carefully add more water, distributed evenly over the top, if mixture is dry. Turn oven down to 200 to keep everything warm.