Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Brussel Sprouts Ruled my Week.

Exhibit A.
Roasted with Lime and Garlic.


Carrying home a locally grown, giant stalk of brussel sprouts from Uncle Paul's produce market last weekend was pretty damn joyous. In retrospect, I wish I had written a DW-style song about it. I had two strangers remark at the big, green stalk leaning on my shoulder on my walk home! They seemed impressed.

For $2.49, I had the centerpiece of my next few meals and a whole lot of roasted brussels in my future. Growing up, my family never ate brussel sprouts. I doubt I really knew what they looked like until I was in college. My family did have an appreciation for a variety of green vegetables, so I assume that my mom had been cursed with over boiled brussels when she was younger and banished them from her life.

My go-to way to cook brussel sprouts is to roast them with freshly squeezed citrus juice. I saw it on a cooking show a few years ago, tried it at home, and the method stuck.

The first way I rolled with my new sprouts was to roast them with lime juice, garlic, coarse sea salt, black pepper and a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

I subsequently roasted more with lemon juice, crumbled Papa G's savory tofu, more garlic and cremini mushrooms.

Next up is a hodge podge meal that I like to think was more creative than desperate, but it goes both ways. I was obviously going to cook with brussel sprouts, but I wanted to do something different, and didn't have a lot to work with. And I was fiercely craving Pad Thai Kitchen, but wanted to continue on my home cooked meals streak.

Exhibit B.

Pad Thai Woon Sen with Brussel Sprouts and Seitan.

I loosely based the sauce on the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, sliced the brussels, used homemade seitan from The Urban Vegan cookbook and threw some crumbled peanuts on top. I was worried the brussels would overpower the dish's tangy flavor, but they didn't - and it hit the spot.

18 comments:

Whitney @ Lettuce Love said...

B-sprouts rule my life. I have just started eating them and they are amazing. Great recipe!

Michelle Anderson said...

hellll yes to uncle pauls' $2.49 stalks!! i'm working on getting through one right now.. and enjoying every minute of it. [there may be a photo of me hugging it on facebook...]

gotta try this "with citrus" thing.

sgcorrie said...

I actually got Jeff to like brussels based on your blood orange roasting technique.....

Anonymous said...

Will be in your fair city tomorrow!
Yessss.

Unknown said...

We never ate brussels sprouts growing up either. I just cook them in a pan with earth balance and garlic for like 5 minutes until they're all crispy looking on the outside. Hmmm... It's awesome. I'll have to try them with citrus. :)

Trinity (of haiku tofu) said...

Mmm I wanna bite that woon sen.

Abby Bean said...

Have you tried any of the Thai and True sauces? I was really impressed by their sweet chili sauce.

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Hey Abigail!

Yes, I'm a fan of the roasted chili and the yellow curry. I've tried everything they have that's vegan, they've had a stand at the portland farmers market for a few years now : )

thanks!

Steff - that is so awesome!

Anonymous said...

I love the big brussels sprout stalk! It is fun to have in my bike basket! Brussels are one of my favorite parts about this time of year!

MeShell said...

I used to *Hate* brussel sprouts. Those look fantastic though, I want to give that a try.

A few weeks ago I made brussel sprouts roasted with a curried cornmeal mixture (based in part on a recipe in Veganomicon), made me change my mind about the sprout hate.

Crystal said...

I love brussels sprouts!!

beauty and bread said...

i love brussel sprouts, too! i was so excited because this weekend i bought a big stalk when i was visiting my boyfriend, but once i got back to oklahoma, i realized i'd left it at his house. now i'm double sorry!

(i like to roast mine too!)

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Oh man, Brussels rule my LIFE! We eat them every week when they're in season.

Erin said...

You have expanded my culinary horizons with the thought of citrus roasted brussels sprouts. For some reason I can't really think of what it would taste like, but I definitely want to try it!

Marco @ online schools said...

Wow. very interesting!

The Law Office of Levinson Axelrod said...

Looks simple and delicious. Thanks for the idea.

theguildedpage said...

So, I don't actually believe this will have effect.

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