Cookbook Preview: Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts

This post is dedicated to my fabulous blog friend Danielle in Vancouver, who has discovered a new love for Brussels sprouts and was looking for recipes. I happen to have the YUMMIEST Brussels sprouts recipe ever and it also happens to be in the cookbook, so: Cookbook Preview! Photos courtesy of Kristy-Anne at Up & Away Studios.

My dad, who is the healthiest man alive, loves all food EXCEPT Brussels Sprouts. Growing up, it was the only food that seemed to me like even grown ups think is DISGUSTING. They looked like awful little green brains and I refused to eat them. Then, we were visiting some family last year in Toronto. And my cousin Alex made this dish for us. I should title the recipe: Brussels Sprouts Are Not Disgusting. In fact they are amazing. And everytime I make this recipe, I hoard as many of them as possible. One of my favorite recipes of all time.

Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts

approx 2 lbs of fresh brussel’s sprouts, halved

1 large sweet onion, sliced

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup vegetable stock

3 tbs apple cider vinegar

1 tbs fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds and/or pumpkin seeds

salt and pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Parboil brussel sprouts, drain. Combine sprouts with onions and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven until golden and a bit crispy, approximately one hour. Combine herbs, stock and vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes. Put sprouts on a serving plate and pour stock mixture over them. Add sunflower seeds.

Recipe: Roasted Kale with Pumpernickel Croutons

Roasted Kale with Pumpernickel Croutons

Continuing along on my attempts to come up with some healthy alternatives to some of the typical holiday dishes, I wanted to try something that could replace stuffing. I’m not saying that anything in life really REPLACES stuffing, but instead of a high fat, high carb, high salt dish, this is a delicious and easy alternative. If you don’t want to replace your traditional stuffing(because you’re not insane), then this makes a great recipe for a vegetarian side dish! I think I’m going to take this one to next week’s first Christmas party of the season!

Roasted Kale with Pumpernickel Croutons

Directions: Remove spines and chop a whole head of kale into medium sized pieces. Place in a large baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Add a few handfuls of cherry tomatoes, some crumbled feta, sliced almonds and set aside. Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, place half a loaf of pumpernickel bread, chopped into crouton sized pieces. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and a dash of sea salt. The bread will really soak these things up, so stir until you feel like most pieces of bread have some oil and vinegar soaked into them. Add them to the kale. Squeeze half a lemon over the kale and roast until mostly crisp, about 45 minutes.