roasted brussels sprouts

 
I don't know what it's like to be one of those kids who tastes a new food with the tip of their tongue and shrivels their nose at the thought of ::gasp:: vegetables.  When I was little, all of my friend's parents loved to feed me.  I tried anything.  I cleaned my plate.  No force feeding necessary. 

As much as I love vegetables of all varieties, I was not much into brussels sprouts until recently.  I don't recall my Mom ever making them when I was a kid and they never seemed very appealing.  Not bad, not good.  Just eh.

Man was I mistaken.  Sure, brussels sprouts aren't the tastiest when they are boiled or steamed.  But roasted in the oven with a little sea salt or sauteed with garlic and ghee in the skillet?  Now you're Eating!

Roasting brussels sprouts, or any vegetable for that matter, brings out the natural sugars, making for a sweet and tender delicacy.  If your children are picky eaters, try roasted vegetables.  You can't go wrong.  I sometimes roast one vegetable solo, but more often roast 3, 4 or 5 different vegetables together to make a medley of tender, sweet goodness.

My favorites to choose from are: brussels sprouts, sweet potato or butternut squash, fennel, leek, onion, rutabaga, turnip, beet, parsnip, carrot, and red potato.  Cut them into uniform chunks, toss them with olive oil and a bit of sea salt, throw them in a baking dish, bake at 375 and walaa - 40 minutes later, you have a nutritious, colorful, sweet and flavorful side dish.  Whatever I don't eat for dinner, I toss with my salad for lunch the next day or enjoy with fried eggs for breakfast.  Puree them into soup with a little coconut or almond milk.  Yum, yum, YUM.

roasted brussels sprouts

10-12 brussels sprouts

2 tbsp olive oil

sea salt

1. Trim end of brussels sprout (if necessary).  Slice in half.
2. In a bowl, toss with olive oil and sea salt.
3. Transfer to baking dish.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown, stirring once or twice during baking.
4. Serves 2-4.
   

quinoa salad

Quinoa.  I am surprised I have not written about this ancient super grain before.  I started eating quinoa in college.  Back "then," my roommates and I thought we had discovered a rare and unusual accompaniment to our otherwise ordinary menus.  This was back when it wasn't yet available at your neighborhood Trader Joe's - a whole 5 years ago.

Anyway, it was still pretty special in our eyes.  We thought it was so cool that we could substitute it for brown rice when we made our favorite chicken curry recipe or add it to soups and salads.  Yeah, we thought we were special.  In the know.  On the forefront.

By now, pretty much everyone knows what quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is.  However, some have no idea what to do with it.

I like to use quinoa as I would use any other grain - in cereals, baked goods, as an accompaniment to main dishes, in soups and stews, and tossed into salads.  Quinoa is unique because it is a complete protein, containing a balanced set of essential amino acids.  For you vegans/vegetarians, there could not be a better superfood.  Skip the soy.  Go quinoa.

I made this quinoa salad up from ingredients I picked up at this past Saturday's Santa Barbara Farmers Market: beautiful purple kale and heirloom tomatoes from Roots Farm, perfectly crunchy and sweet carrots and chickpeas from Tom Shepherd's Farm, french beans from Givens Farm and Meyer lemon from Friend's Ranch to dress it up.  Because I wanted to make it as nutrient dense as possible, I made sure to use all raw vegetables.  Tossing the warm quinoa with the vegetables and lemon juice dressing takes the raw "edge" off.  

Feel free to create your own combination based on what you find at your local market.  The possibilities, as always, are endless.

quinoa salad

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1/3 cup cooked chickpeas

1/3 cup diced carrot

1/3 cup sliced tomatoes

1/3 cup sliced green beans

juice of 2 Meyer lemons

2 tbsp olive oil

sea salt

1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a heavy pot.  Add quinoa and reduce to a rapid simmer, cooking until water is absorbed and quinoa can be fluffed with a fork.  Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl.  Toss a few times to cool - about 5 minutes.
2. While quinoa is cooking, prepare the vegetables.  You can use dried, fresh or canned chickpeas.  If you use dried, soak them overnight and then simmer them in fresh water until tender.  If using fresh, skip the soaking and go right to the simmering.
3. Toss the chickpeas and prepared vegetables in lemon juice and olive oil. Let set until quinoa is ready.
4. Once quinoa has cooled slightly, toss with other ingredients.  Season with sea salt to taste.
5. Enjoy warm, room temperature, or chilled.
6. Serves 2-4.
   

coconut rice pudding

Today was absolutely beautiful.  The sun was out, the skies were clear and the temperature had to be close to 75 degrees for most of the day.  It truly is beautiful in Santa Barbara this time of year.  

Although we celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday because my Dad was supposed to work today and Mike and I were supposed to travel north to see his sister for the holiday, it turned out that both work and travel fell through.  So we had two Thanksgivings - what a treat.  Last night we had a fabulous dinner (feast, more like) at Restaurant Julienne: lobster bisque, roasted eggplant and buffalo mozzarella flatbread, beet and carrot salad, cauliflower fritters, grilled halibut w/ celery root puree, winter squash gnocchi w/ grilled treviso, and rabbit five ways w/ mushroom gravy.  YUM.  Tonight we had a simple yet remarkable dinner at home: homemade spinach and artichoke dip on crostini, grilled steak, baked garnet yams, and chopped salad.  For dessert, we made coconut rice pudding.  Double YUM.

Not only is my Dad a huge fan of rice pudding, but my Mom and I wanted an excuse to try our new favorite ingredient: coconut sugar.  I made cinnamon rolls with it the other day and now we can't stop talking about all of the recipes we can incorporate it into.  The possibilities are endless - starting now.  

Not only is this coconut rice pudding dairy-free, but it is also low-glycemic thanks to the small amount of coconut sugar used to sweeten it.  What a wonderful excuse to make this yummy dessert more often - and to savor leftovers for breakfast.

coconut rice pudding

2 cups brown rice

4 cups water

10-12 whole cloves

6-8 cardamom pods

1 cinnamon stick

2 cans whole coconut milk

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp [GF] vanilla extract

fresh berries

1. Combine rice, water, cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon in a heavy pot.  Cook over medium-low heat until water is absorbed and rice can be fluffed with a fork.
2. Add coconut milk, coconut sugar and vanilla and stir well.  Continue to cook over low heat until desired thickness is reached.
3. Enjoy warm or chilled and topped with fresh berries.
4. Serves 4-6.