brussel sprout salad

I’ve had a tortured relationship with brussel sprouts for a while. In my efforts to like all things plant-based, or at least tolerate them, two beautiful green vegetables have stood in my way time and time again: kale and brussel sprouts. Kale is a work in progress. I’m convinced that, at some point, I will get kicked out of park slope if I don’t start eating and loving kale, at which time I’ll do what I have to in order to make it work (or, move). Brussel sprouts are different. They’re not quite as trendy, and people aren’t shoving them in your face and plastering them all over the menu at every ridiculous quinoa-serving cafe in the neighborhood. I really want to like these tiny adorable mini-cabbages, and I certainly don’t hate them, they’ve just never been something I’m really into, and green vegetables are otherwise kinda my thing. My friend Lindsey, however, loves brussel sprouts so much that she is known to wax poetic about stalks, sprouts, and the like. So of course, when she sent me a recipe for a brussel sprout salad that looked tasty, I saw it as both an endorsement from a brussel sprout connoisseur, and a challenge to put my own spin on it and try to make things right between the sprouts and me.

The recipe she sent me was simple enough, so I followed it pretty closely, and then got creative. I trimmed the stems and cut in half about a pound of sprouts, and sautéed them with a bag of craisins (I wanted real cranberries but my crappy local Key foods store didn’t have them so I had to get creative). I used a little olive oil, but the sprouts char quickly and suck up the oil like crazy, so I sprayed my spout/craisins (spaisins? crouts?) with a blast of cooking spray every 2 minutes or so, and let them cook for about ten minutes. Then, I added a squeeze of light maple syrup, and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar to the mix and removed it from the heat. I then mixed the sprouts mixture with a few big spoonfuls of cooked barley (start this first, by the way, as the barley takes about an hour to cook), a handful of pecans, (this is where I start to deviate from the recipe) thinly sliced pieces of 1 whole green apple, and some crumbled blue cheese, and tossed it all together.

Salad to me requires leafy greens, and dinner to me requires protein, so I scooped a spoonful of the sprout salad onto an actual green salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, and green onions, and served the salad with a few slabs of lite tofu, which I sautéed with some hoisin sauce and a splash of low sodium soy sauce, on the side. It all went together nicely, and was so filling I could barely finish half a bowl. Where do I stand on brussel sprouts, you ask? Eh, we’re getting there, and I actually ate a few. Still better than kale, and that counts for something.

Fruit water

Okay, this isn’t really a recipe, but more of a fun idea to trick yourself into staying hydrated. Fruit water is not a novel concept, and I stole the idea from something I saw on a NYC website earlier. When it’s as hot as it’s been out, I find I have a hard time drinking enough water, especially when I’m busy at work during the day. Hydration is important, and it’s even more important when the temperature is approaching 100 degrees and you’re walking around the city and riding (and waiting) for subways.
The first two were pretty straightforward- one with sliced strawberries, and one with lemons and limes. You can use thin slices or chunks, but I like thin slices because I think that with chunks the fruit flavor can overwhelm the water and get funky. The third was my creation- sliced cucumbers, a few watermelon chunks, and fresh mint- and it was delicious. There’s not much more to it- I poured filtered water into the glasses and let them sit in the refrigerator for about an hour. Then just chug, chug, hydrate!

veggie soup in coconut curry broth

I’m pretty proud of this one- I literally threw it together using a bunch of random ingredients I happened to have in my kitchen (yes, I sometimes have fresh cilantro and wide rice noodles sitting around in my kitchen).  This one was pretty easy and made a delicious, light lunch, if you’re the kind of person who likes eating hot soup when it’s 100 degrees outside.  I boiled the veggies (mostly broccoli and mushrooms) in a mixture of water and vegetable broth for a few minutes.  Then, I added some light coconut milk (maybe 1/3 of a can?), way too much red curry paste (maybe 3 teaspoons?) and a small handful of wide rice noodles (they really expand when cooked),  I brought the mixture to a boil, and let it cook just a few minutes more, but not long, since the noodles get mushy fast.  The best part of this soup was the garnish- a handful of chopped cilantro, a sliced scallion, and about half of a diced jalapeno- you can obviously suit this to your tastes.  A delicious and healthy homemade soup in less than 20 minutes!

Low-fat, low-sugar, “third of july” berry shortcakes

Now that the blog officially has a name (and a great one, at that), AND we’ve gotten our first official comment, I’m more motivated that ever to cook and post some recipes.  I’ll start by sharing a dessert that I put together for a pre-4th of July and then a 4th of July gathering I went to.  I had a bunch of really nice berries (red, white, and blue- hehe), so I wanted to be creative and make something not too heavy or sweet, that showcased the beautiful taste and appearance of the berries.  I mixed together a bunch of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and sliced strawberries, and mixed them with a spoonful of sugar.  And while we’re on the topic of sugar- I’m not convinced that, in moderation, a little bit of natural sugar here and there is necessarily a bad thing.  And it certainly can’t be any worse than aspartame, saccharin, and all of the other crap that we use in our “artificial” sweeteners.  I let the sugar settle into the berry juice, and it brought out the natural sweetness of the berries. 

I cheated with the biscuits, and just used bisquick, but made the shortcake recipe with half the butter and less than half the sugar, and added some extra water and soymilk. Once the biscuits were done, I cut them in half and layered low-fat cool whip and berries between the biscuit halves, and that’s it! I don’t eat dessert, but these were really good. Probably not best for people who like their desserts really sweet and rich, but the berries really carried it and made it work.