Gaspar's: Since 1923 ... talk about lean

I went to the doctor this week, and one of his staffers, a petite young lady in a blue smock, put me through the indignity of standing on a scale.

After acknowledging the weight gain -NotTellingHowMuch - and going through the 'How do you dos' with a new physician, we discussed exercise and diet, among other things. So, no carbs at dinner time, he says. If you do carbs, consume them before or by noon. 

With that fresh on the mind, I tried a veggie dinner that evening with a small portion of meat. It was okay, but disappointing. Am I going to be disappointed with dinner for the rest of my life? Thinking not.

Second evening after the doctor's visit, I came up with this. It's got carbs, but on a really low scale.

Start with enough water to cover the bottom of a sauce pan. No oil tonight, but there is one level spoonful of starch (Carbs! Yes, I know, but it's just enough to thicken the water. Spinkle in a lot of basil flake and two dashes of soy sauce.

The vegetables:  What we have here is fresh chopped red bell pepper, cabbage, poblano, carrot, onion -- small portions of each. Oh, and one large clove of garlic chopped to bits.

This stews in boiling water-based sauce.

There's also a couple of spoonfuls of diced  tomato and jalapeno that came from a can of Rotel.

The sausage, and this is pure coincidence. I picked a Portuguese sausage, Gaspar's. A smoked sausage from North Dartmouth, Mass., this is one lean link.

I split a link and toss it on top of the veggies to heat it up. Looks something like this, but I'm having trouble with getting enough light in my new kitchen to get a decently exposed photograph (gotta work on that).

This is no Polish-style sausage. I've come across very few sausages this low-fat, and it doesn't even advertise itself as being lean.

One suggested serving size, 2 ounces, has 9 grams of fat and 1 gram of carbohydrate. "Suggested serving size," we know what that's good for. This package is three links at 16 ounces.

So, what I'm really eating, one link, is closer to 5 ounces and just over 18 grams fat.

It's dry, not greasy. But well-flavored, and paired with these veggies in this sauce -- I'm just saying it was a big improvement over the previous night!

I heated two corn tortillas (instead of the usual three or four I might have with dinner). Turns out, it was very filling.

One other thing. I called up Travis Poling -- shout out to an old buddy from San Antonio.  I was at Total Wine, and I needed advice on a good porter ale. Travis writes Beer Across Texas. He's our expert on all things beer, and told me his favorite porter is Meantime, an English brand I could not find at Total Wine.

Second option was Fuller's. That they had. And it really went great with this dish. If you like porters and you're looking for a healthier dinner offering, this should make for a satisfying evening meal.

More about Gaspar's. Manual A. Gaspar moved to the United States in 1912 armed with recipes for making traditional "linguica and chourico."

The Gaspar Sausage Company Inc. has become the largest manufacturer of Portuguese sausage in the country, producing well over three million pounds each year.

Readily available at all major supermarket chains throughout New England, Gaspar's Linguica and Chourico can also be found in parts of New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and Bermuda.

Buen provecho!