This is a recipe I got from Serious Eats' The Cartoon Kitchen recipe series. The thing that struck me about this recipe was the simple combination of four ingredients, one of them being prunes. I'm not a prune fan; I'll eat it if it's in a bag of dried fruit because it's there, but I don't go out of my way seeking just prunes. Perhaps it was Larry Gonick's cartoons that did the trick, the dorky chef and his cat cooking up recipes in 4 little boxes. The fact that it called for Polish sausage and sour cream pointed to an Eastern European background, and it may taste delicious if prepared straight the original recipe. Get a calorie counter in here and you'll want to change things around. That's what I did here.

I've made this countless times, and I know it's a keeper when Frank volunteers to make it all on his own. It's so easy and goes well with any starch: rice, pasta, couscous, boiled potato if you're Polish! All you need is steamed veggies on the side, the greener the better. For nutritional information, go to the Calorie Counter Database; this dish isn't light so make sure you have a full day of climbing first!

Prunes, pitted (this amount should be 3/4 of the amount of sausage)
Lemon slice
Spicy sausage (preferably organic, poultry)
Soy milk

Put the prunes and lemon slice in a pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove the lemon. Slice the sausage into pieces slightly bigger than the prunes. Put the sausage pieces in a big saucepan and add 1/2 cup water. Cook over medium heat, skimming the fat, until the sausage is almost done, then pour out any remaining water and add a tiny bit of olive oil. Finish cooking the sausage. Add the prunes, water and all, to the pan. Add enough soymilk to thicken the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Served here with rice and steamed broccoli.

Worth reading: This bit of news on CNN about an "air hostess" suing her employer, Air India, who grounded her due to her weight. The roll-your-eyes moment occurs at the very end.