Baked Brussel Sprouts with Sriracha and Honey Sauce

As a child my mother would utter the words brussel sprouts and a sense of horror would take me over. What I knew of as brussel sprouts then (boiled to death then topped with butter - ewe) and how I think of them now are vastly different.

This is my new favorite brussel sprout recipe. It. Is. Awesome.

I cannot take credit for developing the sauce as I found the original recipe at Food52. Upon reading it I knew it would be WONDERFUL. I did have one worry though. I've been trying to NOT deep fry things (I've been losing weight thank you very much!) So I decided to bake them.

Here's what I did.

Inspired by the fried version over at Food52.

Serves 4-6

Printable version of Recipe

Ingredients:

1lb of brussel sprouts

1 red bell pepper cut into long toothpick slices

olive oil

large flake kosher salt

Spicy sauce:

1/2 Tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce

1.5 Tablespoons of honey, heated

juice of 1/2 a lime

zest for half a lime

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut the bottom hard portion off of the brussel sprouts.

Cut the sprout in half lengthwise and if large cut into quarters. I like to cut the hard center of the sprout out as well. (You don't HAVE to.) I then peeled the leaves to the heart and I left the heart in tact, tossing all together in a large bowl. This takes a while. You may want to wait to turn the oven on until you're halfway through preparing the sprouts.

Add the red pepper slices. I drizzled the olive oil, a little at a time, tossing the bowl contents until everything has a thin coating. I leaned on the side of less than more as you can see in the photo to the right. They aren't drenched. There was no olive oil running off the brussel sprouts into the jelly road pan. Sprinkle the kosher salt flakes over the pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. If you bake them longer then will dry out and crisp up, but I liked them at the 15 minute mark.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Note: I heated my honey so that it was runny and it mixed together easier.

Once the sprouts are cooked, pour them into a large bowl. Pour the sauce over them, a little at a time and serve. Be prepared to hear yummy noises from around the table.

Today as I began to write this post, I read the comments on the post at Food52 and in the comments she posted this link for another version of the baked idea from

Brooklyn Bread Press.

At some point I'll try the deep fried version... but my baked version is awesome!

Printable version of Recipe

Asparagus is Easy

People are often scared to cook asparagus. Perhaps it's because over cooked asparagus is lousy.

Have no fear. It is one of the easiest vegetables to cook. I often make up more than I'll use at that meal and add it to salads later.

Printable version of Recipe

Ingredients:

asparagus

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

olive oil

A grill pan, frying pan or grill

Prepare your asparagus using either the snapping or anti-snapping method discussed below.

in a bowl, place asparagus and a drizzle of olive oil. Less is more and you can always add more oil as needed. Rub the olive oil all over the spears. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Place spears in a single layer on your grill pan (that's what I used in the photo above), frying pan or onto your grill. Asparagus cooks in 2-3 minutes per side depending on how thick your spears are.

Serve.

ASPARAGUS TIPS:

*When selecting asparagus, thinner is better. Check the bottoms of your asparagus for dry ends. You want less dry end than more. It's best if your market has the bundles standing up in a little water. You should put them standing up in a little water in your own fridge at home. This will extend their life in your fridge.

* There are two schools of thought about how best to prepare the asparagus to be cooked. The anti-snapping side suggest you cut the woody end off your asparagus and then peel the tough outer skin off the lower portion of each spear. (See an example of this discussion at Food52 along with an wonderful recipe for Thai-Inspired Asparagus Salad with Fried Meyer Lemon.) I think this is the suggested method if you have quite fresh thick stemmed spears.

The snapping camp is also represented in my home. Taking the spear between your thumb and forefinger, snap the spear. It snaps where the woody part stops and the yummy part starts! This is especially helpful on skinny spears or on spears that my have been in your fridge longer than you'd like to admit. For a more in depth tutorial see the kitchen's post here.

*Grilling asparagus can be a little precarious. For thin spears, I use a grill pan (flat pan with smaller holes so I don't lose the asparagus into the grill.) For thicker spears, I thread them onto two skewers, one near the top of the spear, one near the bottom, until they look like an asparagus placemat. Then I can flip the entire set at once in the grill. I also have used the fish grilling basket that closes around the spears, holding them in place.

Printable version of Recipe

Potato-Bell Pepper Vegetable

This is a wonderful and simple Indian side dish from Maya. (Thanks Maya!)

It's REALLY REALLY easy and everyone seems to love it!

I've served it along side Indian dishes of course, but it's equally as tasty with a piece of fish and some rice. After you've tried it, let me know how YOU served it!

Printable version of Recipe

Ingredients:

olive oil
3-4 medium potatoes,

peeled/washed and cut into 1" thick slices of 1-1/2" lengths
3 Bell Peppers, cleaned and cut into 1" thick slices of 1-1/2" lengths
2 Tomatoes, cut into 8ths
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp garlic paste*

1/2 tsp ginger paste*

1-2 fresh thai chilies or 1 jalapeno, chopped (optional)

1 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chili powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

salt to taste

1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro

Medium pan with cover (Ideally cover will have a lip at the edge that you can put a little water in without it running off.)

Peel and cut the potatoes into 1" thick slices of 1-1/2" lengths. I place them in a bowl covered with cool water. Just prior to putting them into the pan I drain them. The water that sticks to them is helpful in the cooking.

In a medium pan over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp oil. When heated, add mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, add the potatoes. Layer on the bell peppers, turmeric powder and salt to taste. Cover and cook on medium heat until potatoes are 3/4 done. (Stick potato with a fork and when still slightly tough, it's 3/4 done.)

Add ginger and garlic paste (and chillies/jalapeno if using) and stir to mix

well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes.

Add all other dry spice except for garam masala. Stir and mix well cook for 2 minutes. Turn heat down to a simmer once potatoes are cooked through.

Layer on the tomato slices. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add some water to the cover**.

Sprinkle on the garam masala and cilantro when done. Cover and let sit a few minutes.

** Tip: A trick Maya taught me. If you feel it may burn, put some water on top of the cover and keep cooking. This will keep the pot from burning.

*If you don't have these pastes, finely chop either garlic or ginger as called for. Garlic paste and ginger paste may be found at your local Indian market and at many specialty markets.

*** A note about Indian spices. You can play around with the spices in this dish. Beware that you may not want to increase the amount of turmeric as it can easily make a dish bitter.

Printable version of Recipe