Next, take a heavy 12-inch skillet, heat the 4 tablespoons of olive oil and the 4 tablespoons of margarine and sauté the diced sausage, the onions, and the mushrooms until they totally wilt. Then immediately begin adding the remaining vegetables, one kind at a time. As you drop them into the skillet, toss and stir them briskly to make sure they are thoroughly blended with the onions and mushrooms. When all the produce is in the pan, sprinkle in the crushed red pepper and the vegetable seasoning, cover the pan with a lid, and cook everything together over a low fire for about 4 to 5 minutes (tossing the mix every now and then) until the vegetables are hot and tender-crisp. If you find that you need a little extra steam to get the veggies going, go ahead and add some of the chicken stock as needed. Note: just don’t overcook the vegetables or they’ll turn to mush!

At this point, remove the sausage links from the poaching liquid and set them aside on a platter. Then turn the fire under the liquid up to high and reduce the stock to about half of its original volume (about a pint). When the reduced stock has become concentrated, mix the cornstarch with a little cold water and gradually stir it. As it comes back to a boil, it will thicken and transform itself into a gravy. To finish it off, simply stir in a few drops of Kitchen Bouquet and a handful of sliced green onions.

When you’re ready to eat, turn up the fire under the veggies once more, spoon in the rice, and mix everything together well (it will look almost like a vegetable casserole). All that’s left is to spoon out the hot rice and veggies onto a dinner plate, ladle on some of the sausage gravy, and top the dish with a link or two of poached sausage.

I suggest you serve the primavera garnished with green onions and accompanied by a dish of beet salad dressed with onions, extra virgin olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

If you like your veggies tender crisp, you can sauté them in the skillet fully raw and unprocessed. If, on the other hand, you prefer them slightly softer, I suggest you quickly blanche the broccoli, the cauliflower, the snow peas, the carrots, and the eggplant before adding them to the sautéing skillet.

The skin should be left on the eggplant when you dice it. But to remove some of the "bite" on older specimens you can sprinkle the diced pieces lightly with salt before you cook them.

To tenderize the sun-dried tomatoes, you can soak them for a few minutes in about a half-cup of warm water. But if you prefer them somewhat chewy, all that's really necessary is to sauté them in the hot olive oil.