Welcome to Cooking Without Recipes, in which we teach you how to make a dish we love, but don’t worry too much about the nitty-gritty details of the recipe, so you can create your own spin. Every day this week, we’ll be bringing you a staffer’s favorite quick dinner—we’re talking under 15 minutes. Seriously. Today, integrated marketing associate Jordan Schaefer reaches for an old favorite.

With two small kids and a limited amount of time, I’m always open to new ways to get a healthy, fast dinner on the table. One afternoon, after overhearing a coworker tell her husband she was making sausage and white beans for dinner, I thought: That could work. Great Northern beans and sweet Italian sausage are grocery staples in our family, and with a few seasonal tweaks, this winning combo has become a year-round foundation for a quick, delicious dinner that’s ready in no time. Here’s how I do it:

Drain and rinse one can of white beans (we use Great Northern or cannellini). Remove two to three sweet Italian sausages from their casings and crumble into a nonstick skillet with some olive oil over medium-high heat, breaking up any large pieces with a fork. When sausage is almost cooked through, about five minutes, add beans and toss until warm. If the beans and sausage get dry, add a splash of white wine or chicken stock. Add a big handful of shredded kale until slightly wilted. Top with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, shaved Parmesan, a squeeze of lemon, and crushed red pepper flakes, if you crave some heat. I like to mix this up in the summer by skipping the kale and topping with fresh arugulaand cherry tomatoes dressed lightly with lemon and olive oil.

If you have a few extra minutes to spare, this is also delicious with a poached orfried egg.