Striving for change

Tags

Food, salad recipe

For those that know me personally, it should be no surprise that I am looking to make changes to my diet yet once more. I find there is always room for improvement, especially when I fall off the bandwagon – which is quite often.

I’ve been watching a lot of videos on YouTube concerning raw veganism and have tried to increase not only the amount of veggies I eat but also making the majority of the veggies I consume raw. Why? Because, as a general rule, vegetables tend to lose nutrients when cooked. Steaming and sauté-ing are the best ways to preserve nutrients if cooking vegetables. I would say close to 80% of my vegetables consumed are now raw. How do I feel? Great!

Considering I planted a bunch of kale in my father’s garden this year (and I had to go and get some before it went bad), and that neither of my parents really seemed to know too much about kale and how to use it, I decided I would share this kale-based salad recipe I put together on a recent visit to my mother’s. If Dad and Mary Ann are interested, I can certainly make it for them during our next visit.

Please note, this recipe was inspired by Dara Dubinet. Here is a link to her videos – which I love, she just has such great energy – a real ray of sunshine.

Les gens qui me connaissent ne devraient pas être trop surpris que je compte faire encore d’autres changements à mes habitudes alimentaires. Je trouve qu’il y a toujours un peu de place pour améliorer mon alimentation, spécialement quand je retourne à mes anciens démons; chose qui se produit plutôt souvent!

De ces jours-ci, je regarde plusieurs vidéos sur le végétalisme crudivore et je tente donc de consommer non seulement plus de légumes, mais de faire en sorte que la majorité de ces légumes sont crus. Pourquoi? Parce que la règle générale veut que les légumes perdent une certaine valeur nutritive quand ils sont cuits. Par contre, si on compte cuire ses légumes en préservant le plus de ces éléments nutritifs, il est suggéré de les sauter ou les cuire à la vapeur. Je dirais qu’environ 80% de mes légumes sont maintenant consommés crus. Comment je me sens? Super!

Étant donné que j’ai planté du chou kalé (ou chou frisé) dans le jardin de mon père, et que je devrais en récolter avant qu’il ne pourrisse, et aussi que mes parents ne semblaient pas trop quoi faire avec cet aliment et comment le préparer; j’ai décidé de partager cette recette que j’ai préparé quand je suis allée rendre visite à ma mère récemment. Si mon père et Mary Ann sont intéressés, il me fera plaisir de leur en préparer lors de notre prochaine visite.

SVP notez que cette recette est inspirée par unes des recettes de Dara Dubinet. Voici un lien à ces vidéos sur YouTube. J’adore ces vidéos et l’énergie positive qu’elle dégage. Bref, un vrai rayon de soleil!

Dara Dubinet inspired kale salad with figs.
Une salade aux figues et choux kalé inspiré par Dara Dubinet.

Caro’s twist on the Kale Queen salad

Ingredients
-2 cups of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
-2 cups of lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
-Red onion, diced
-Figs, peeled (optional) and cut into quaters
-half an orange, chopped into pieces
-juice of half an orange
-half an avocado, mashed
-2 tsp honey
-a few pinches of cinnamon
-olive oil
-salt to taste
-poppy seeds (optional)

Putting it together:
1- Mix the kale, lettuce, red onion, figs and orange pieces in a large bowl.
2- For the dressing, mix the mashed avocado, orange juice, cinnamon, honey, olive oil and a bit of salt.
3- Pour the dressing onto the greens, add poppy seeds to your liking and toss. Adjust salt as needed.

La salade Kale Queen modifié à la Caro

Ingrédients
-2 tasses de chou kale (ou chou frisé), déchiqueté en petits morceaux
-2 tasses de laitue, déchiquetée en petits morceaux
-Onion rouge, en petits cubes
-Figues, pelées (optionel) et coupées en quarts
-la moitié d’une orange, coupée en morceaux
-jus de la moitié d’une orange
-moitié d’un avocat, écrasé
-2 c.à.t. de miel
-quelques pincées de cannelle
-huile d’olive
-sel, au goût
-graines de pavot (optionel)

Préparation:
1- Dans un saladier, mélanger le chou, la laitue, l’onion rouge, les figues et les morceaux d’orange.
2- Pour la vinaigrette, mélanger dans un petit bol l’avocat, le jus d’orange, la cannelle, le miel, l’huile d’olive et le sel.
3- Aroser la vinaigrette sur le mélange de laitue et choux, ajouter les graines de pavot (optionel) et remuer. Ajuster le sel à votre goût.

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Damn you cantaloupe!!! Damn you!!!!

Alright, so I am sorry I have no picture to go along with this, but such is the monster of early-morning smoothies consumed in the train!

The story: I went out and bought a cantaloupe to serve up for when we had my parents over for dinner last Saturday. I took out the melon-baller (melonballer? melon baller? gah!!!) and all and got to work. Come dessert time – I forgot to put the bloody cantaloupe out! TYPICAL!

Fast-forward a few days, we still have round-ish (now somewhat soggy) cantaloupe in the fridge. I needed to do something with this…

Solution:

Cantaloupe-mint smoothie
Serves 2
Ingredients
-1.5 cups cantaloupe, chopped into 1-2″ pieces
-1 banana, broken up into pieces
-2 sprigs of mint, leaves only
-1 scoop protein powder (vanilla or unflavoured)
-1/2 cup almond milk
-1+ cups cold water (adjust to your liking)
-1 Tbspn honey
-pinch of salt
-vanilla (optional)

Putting it together:
1- Throw it all in the blender and GO – GO – GO!!!

Eid Mubarak! … and an Alfajores recipe

This post was a while in coming. We were all very busy for the end of Ramadan, Eid and now with life getting back to “normal” for a week, just in time to welcome some guests over to our place for nearly 2 weeks.

I at least wanted to share the recipe for the alfajores I served up when our friends came over a few weeks ago. I’m not too sure how much time I will be able to dedicate to posting when our guests will be over as we are working at our regular jobs and then coming home to entertain our guests in the evening. So, I make no promises but I will try to post a bit more often.

I’m also currently working on a “healthier” version of date squares. My mother-in-law wants to take something to my father (which it seems is customary after a surgery). He loves dates, we want to give him something healthy, and I would like to teach her a recipe for once. I was thinking of making them “raw” but decided not to push it too much. We’ll see if the recipe makes it onto the blog in the next little while. I also have to work on a post for all the food we prepped for when we had my parents over last weekend.

I’m also trying to make up a recipe for lemon-mint bars that are also healthier. My God! The amount of butter and sugar used in most recipes!!!! Holy cannoli! That’s one’s going to be tough.

Without further ado, I present to you a recipe for Alfajores!

Alfajores

Alfajores
Yield = about 15-20 cookie sandwiches
Ingredients
-1 cup corn starch
-1 1/4 cup flour
-1 tspn baking powder
-1/2 tspn baking soda
-1/4 tspn salt
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (if semi-salted or salted, omit the salt)
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 egg yolks
-1 Tsbpn water (adjust once you mix)
-1 tspn lemon zest
-1 tspn lemon juice
-1/2 tspn vanilla extract or ground (ground will not be as strong in flavour and will add specs in your cookies)
-dulce de leche (recipe posted below this one)
-coconut shavings

Putting it together:
1- In a medium bowl, sift together corn starch, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg yolks one at a time. Add in water, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix well.
3- On slow speed, add in dry ingredients until a dough forms. Do not overmix.
4- Take dough out of bowl, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5- Preheat stove at 350F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
6- Roll out dough to about 1/4″ thickness. Cut out cookies with a round cookie cutter (about 2 inches in diameter). Place on cookie sheets. Some advise not to roll out the dough more than twice.
7- Bake for 10-15 minutes until bottoms start to brown but the tops are still pale. Transfer gently to cooling rack – the cookies tend to crumble if you’re too rough.
8- Once completely cooled, spread dulce de leche on the bottom of one cookie, top with another. Do not overfill, the dulce de leche will ooze out the sides and make a big mess. Take a bit of extra dulce de leche and spread along the sides of the cookie. Dips this into the coconut shavings to coat.
9- Store in the fridge to prevent the dulce de leche from running. Enjoy!

Dulce de leche
Yield = enough for 2 batches of alfajores, or one batch and leftovers for ice cream or other piggy foods
Ingredients
-1 can of sweetened condensed milk (such as Eagle Brand)

Putting it together:
1- Stand unopened can in a large pot (that will go on the stove). Make sure there are a few inches of space between the top of the can and the top of the pot. Fill the pot with water until there are a few inches of water completely covering the can.
2- Bring water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to gently simmer. For a thick caramel (good for Alfajores), let simmer for 4 hours. For a thinner caramel (for other things), simmer for 1-3 hours. The longer you simmer the can of milk, the darker and thicker the caramel will be. Make sure that there is always plenty of water covering the can. If water levels drop below the top of the can, the can could explode!!!!
3- Once done, let can cool (unopened) in the pot of water. This may take a few hours.
4- Open and try not to eat the whole can the second you open it.

Other ways to cook up the dulce de leche: open the can, pour it into a shallow oven-proof container, cover in foil and place into a larger oven-proof container. Fill 1/2 way up with water. Bake for a few hours at 425F. You can also pour the can into a microwave-safe container (such as a Pyrex measuring cup) and microwave at 30% for 3 minute increments.

Our Latin American fiesta recipes

Tags

avocado, chicken, cilantro, fajitas, lime, potato salad

Assalamu alaikum everyone! It’s Friday, we’ve gotten through another week, I hope you are all smiling because it’s the weekend!

Salem and I had some friends over for iftar on the weekend and I decided to make them eat outside of their comfort zone. While the wife is an amazing cook at all things Lebanese (and boy does she ever serve up a storm every time), I jumped at the suggestion that we make them try something different. last year, we had them come over and try out butter chicken. This year, I went with the Latin American theme.

Tout le monde à table!

Supper consisted of: a spiced bean soup for starters; slow-cooker chicken fajitas; potato salad with a South American twist, an avocado and cilantro salad; alfajores and a chocolate mousse for dessert. I am fully aware that chocolate mousse doesn’t totally conform to the theme, but I had to at least give them something safe.

I’ve written up the recipes for last Saturday’s dinner. Without further ado, here’s a little food porn and the recipes that go with it.

On the menu: slow-cooker salsa-lime chicken fajitas. Latin American inspired potato salad and an avocado-lime salad.

I must admit, I was inspired by some of the recipes on this site. I added some of my own little things and adjustments and may revise a few things again at a later date.

If you’re wondering what we served for the fajitas, here’s a quick list: sautéed peppers and onions, sliced avocado, regular salsa, salsa verde (which I LOVE), sour cream and aged cheddar. You can also opt for some lettuce and tomatoes – I skipped out on that this time because we had a side-salad and the chicken is cooked in salsa so that was enough tomato-related stuff going on.

Slow-cooker salsa-lime chicken
Yield = 4-6 servings
Ingredients
-1 jar of salsa
-juice of 1 lime
-1-2 cloves of crushed garlic
-1 Tbspn cumin
-1 tspn paprika
-1 tspn oregano
-1/2 tspn garlic powder
-1/2 tspn onion powder
-Fresh cilantro, chopped
-1-1.5 lbs chicken (we used chicken breast)

Putting it together:
1- Wash and dry chicken, trim off any nasty bits (yes, I am picky like that). Simply set aside – no cutting needed.
2- In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients except for the cilantro. Place chicken on top and spoon some of the mixture over the chicken. DO NOT ADD WATER!
3- Set your slow cooker to low for 7-8 hours.
4- Once it’s done, you can either pull the chicken apart with 2 forks (for pulled chicken), or you can take it out in small chunks. The chicken does tend to fall apart because it was slow cooked. Spoon some sauce over it and top with fresh cilantro.

Latin American inspired potato salad
Yield = 6-8 servings
Ingredients
-1 can of corn, drained
-3 large potatoes, diced and cooked (about 3 cups)
-1 head of broccoli, cut into florets (use the stem, cut it into small pieces)
-1 cup red onion, chopped
-1 pepper, chopped (this I will be adding in next time)
-3 Tbspn mayo (I used low-fat)
-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
-3 Tbspn lime juice
-2 Tbspn olive oil
-1 tspn wasabi
-1 tspn paprika
-1/4 tspn cayenne
-3 Tbspn Fresh cilantro, chopped
-Fresh cilantro, chopped
-Salt and Pepper to taste

Putting it together:
1- Mix together the corn, potatoes, broccoli, red onion and pepper.
2- In a jar, mix all other ingredients, put on the lid and shake!
3- Mix the salad and the dressing. You can let it sit together for a bit, that works just fine.

Avocado-lime salad
Yield = 4-6 servings
Ingredients
-1 head of lettuce, torn
-Baby spinach
-2-3 Tomatoes, chopped
-1/2 cup red onion, chopped
-1 avocado, cubed
-2 Tbspn fresh cilantro, chopped
-2 limes, juiced
-2 Tbspn olive oil
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Fresh cilantro, chopped

Putting it together:
1- Mix together the lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onion and avocado (try to add the avocado last so it doesn’t turn brown).
2- In a jar, mix all other ingredients, put on the lid and shake!
3- Mix the salad and the dressing. Serve immediately.

Ramadan Kareeeeeeeemmmmmmm!!! – It’s Fatteh time!

*cue music* It’s the most wonderful tiiiiime of the yeeeeeeeeaaaaarrrrrr! *end music before my singing kills someone*
Assalamu alaikum everyone, I’ve been busy with Ramadan so I am a few days late in posting again.

So yes, it is Ramadan… actually, the first week is almost over! Fasting started last Friday (although some started on Saturday) and should go on through to nearly the end of August (somewhere around the 19th). This year, we’re working hard to get up before sunrise to eat a bit and do our prayers. I will admit, in years past, we just sat up in bed, ate a few dates and drank a glass of water in the dark and laid back down. None of that this year! Perhaps I aught to add in a “Suhoor” section now that breakfast is not just limited to either a banana or dates. Although I do feel my energy levels dip a bit in the afternoon because my sleep is interrupted. Oh well, it’ll force me to nap when I get home.

People who don’t fast often ask me about food during Ramadan. So I will share with you what is the ONE typical Ramadan food for me – Fatteh! It’s easy to make, easy to eat and very tasty. The great thing about this dish is how nutritious it can be: we have complex and simple carbs, fats, protein and dairy – perfect for when you’ve been fasting all day. That along with a few dates and a glass of water really help give you energy again.

Fatteh
Serves 4
Ingredients
-1 medium loaf of pita bread
-1.5 cups plain yogurt
-4 Tbspn Tahini
-1 cup chickpeas (roughly)
-3 Tbspn almonds, roughly chopped (skin on or off, it’s your choice) **You can use pine nuts…. if you can afford them!**
-butter
-olive oil
-paprika to taste

Putting it together:
1. Drizzle a bit of olive oil onto both sides of your pita bread and spread with wither a brush or using your hands. Tear the loaf into pieces, approx 1″ each. Toast either in a pan on the stove top or on a cookie sheet in the oven (about 350F for 5 minutes or so). The goal is to crisp up your bread, not burn it.
2. Heat up your chickpeas in a saucepan (with the water that came with the beans or just ad a bit of water so the beans don’t get scorched). One heated, drain but leave just a little bit of water at the bottom.
3. In a bowl, mix together the yogurt and tahini. Add more or less tahini to your taste – I really like tahini, Salem eats it in massive quantities so we often surpass the 4 Tbspn suggested quantity if we’re the only ones eating it. Set aside.
4. Warm up a bit of butter and/or olive oil in a pan. One heated, add in the almonds to toast them to your liking.
5. Prep 4 deep bowls for the layering.
The first layer: the toasted pita bread.
The second layer: add chickpeas on top of the pita.
The 3rd layer: cover the chickpeas with the yogurt and tahini mix.
To top it all off, sprinkle on your toasted almonds and the leftover oil in the pan. Sprinkle with paprika.
6. Say “Bismillah” and eat!

**Please note: the picture above is a smaller sized fatteh – I have to leave space for dinner. I use ramekins rather than regular bowls and, of course, scale down the ingredients.**

Sundried tuna recipe and a super-mixed salad

Here’s a funny story: I was being so delinquent in my postings of my lunch series that I had decided to post a double-lunch feature only to realize, once the post was nearly done, that I had actually already posted the first recipe! I guess I haven’t been all that delinquent after all…

Tuna with sundried tomatoes
**special note:This is actually inspired by a Brad Gouthro recipe.**
Ingredients
-1 can tuna – in water
-1-2 sundried tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
-1-2 Tbspn green onions, chopped
-1-2 Tbspn green pepper, chopped
-1 clove of garlic, crushed
-lemon juice, to taste
-salt and pepper, to taste
-paprika, to taste
-olive oil

Putting it together:
Just throw it all together! I had this on its own, Salem had it in sandwich form.

Mixed salad version…ermm….
Ingredients
-curly lettuce, chopped
-kale, ripped into smaller pieces
-red and Asian cabbage, chopped thinly
-tomato, chopped
-green onions, chopped
-green pepper, chopped
-olive oil
-1 Tbspn apple-cider vinegar
-salt and pepper, to taste
-parsley

Putting it together:
Just throw this one all together as well!

The return of my lunch series

Ok, so I got a bit lazy there for a while – I was busy spending a lot of time working on my weekly eating plan because my naturopath (or homeopath) put me on a “hypoallergenic” or “elimination” diet to help reset my liver and see if my body was reacting badly to some foods without me knowing. She suggested I try it out for 4 weeks… I did it fully for 2, reintegrating some foods back in after 10 days (tomatoes, peppers and eggs). Of course, I brought Salem along for the ride (poor guy). For me, it wasn’t too bad simply because I am not too dependent on bread to begin with, but this part was hard for the man. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time looking up gluten-free, wheat-free, XYZ-free recipes.
I will be posting some of the recipes I found (and modified) over the next little while.
On to today’s lunch!

Lunch, served on my lap! It tasted great though.

Chili-lime marinated, baked chicken
Avocado and tomato
Zucchini “pasta”

Yes, I took the picture with all my 3 pieces of tupperware on my lap! I went to the warehouse and had lunch with my friends.

Zucchini “pasta”
I actually came across this recipe while watching a raw-vegan recipe video on YouTube. It’s simple and I LOVE it (along with Salem and his mother).
Ingredients
-1 zucchini per person if serving as a side-dish – try to get a “fatter” one as you will not be using the “core”
-Cherry tomatoes (or regular tomatoes), cut into bite-sized pieces
-Sea salt
-Garlic powder
-Chopped onion
-Basil, chiffon-ed
-Olive oil

Putting it together:
1. Get out your vegetable peeler, and peel your zucchinis until you get to the core – don’t add in the seeds as the noodles won’t have the right texture. You can chop the core into smaller pieces and add it back into the dish or use in another recipe.
2. Add in all other ingredients to your taste, mix and serve. You can leave this in the fridge overnight without any problem. Also, feel free to add other ingredients – olives, peppers, oregano, etc.

Chili-lime chicken
Yield = 4 servings
Ingredients
-2 full chicken breasts
-2 limes, juiced and zested
-1 Tbspn lemon-juice
-1.5 tspn chili powder
-1/2 tspn cumin
-salt and pepper
-olive oil

Putting it together:
1.Mix all ingredients but the chicken breast.
2.Once mixed, add in the chicken breast and marinade for a few hours, up to 24 hours. Turn over after a few hours.
3. Discard marinade and bake chicken breasts on oiled cookie sheet at 350 until chicken is no longer pink inside and juices run clear (each oven is different so I won’t be including cooking time). You can also grill the chicken.

Oh, how we love Schweddy balls!

Salem and I sure do love munching on a few Schweddy balls before a workout. They have lots of protein, healthy fats and are great as a snack and keep us going throughout a workout.

I originally picked up this recipe here.

While I like the original recipe, I always have to change things up a bit. I’ve decided to include a few pictures along with the recipes in order to gauge if you are getting the right consistencies as consistency is key with this recipe.

Here is the finished product – Chocolate and peanut butter (on the left) as well as Vanilla-almond (on the right).

Chocolate and peanut butter Schweddy balls
Yield = 3 balls – 2 for men, 1 for women
Ingredients
-2 Tbspn natural peanut butter, creamy/smoothe
-2 Tbspn honey
-Splash of vanilla extract
-1/2 cup chocolate protein powder
-1-2 Tbspn grated coconut
-1 Tbspn slivered or chopped almonds

Putting it together:
1- Using a fork, mix peanut butter, honey and vanilla extract in a bowl.
2- Add in the protein powder and mix again until the whole mix comes together in a crumbly mess. To test the consistency, put some of the mix in your hand and try to form it into a ball. If too moist, add in a bit of protein powder. If too dry, add in either a bit more peanut butter or honey.
3- Mix in the grated coconut and almonds.
4- Divide your mix into 3 equal parts and form into balls. You will have to compress them a bit.
5- Store in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to be eaten. If transporting, please put your balls into a sturdy container – they are fragile!

Vanilla-almond Schweddy balls
Yield = 3 balls – 2 for men, 1 for women
Ingredients
-2 Tbspn natural peanut butter, creamy/smoothe
-2 Tbspn honey
-Splash of almond extract
-1 tspn Torani sugar-free vanilla syrup
-1/2 cup vanilla or plain protein powder
-1-2 Tbspn grated coconut
-1 Tbspn slivered or chopped almonds

Putting it together:
1- Using a fork, mix peanut butter, honey, almond extract and vanilla syrup in a bowl.
2- Add in the protein powder and mix again until the whole mix comes together in a crumbly mess. To test the consistency, put some of the mix in your hand and try to form it into a ball. If too moist, add in a bit of protein powder. If too dry, add in either a bit more peanut butter or honey.
3- Mix in the grated coconut and almonds.
4- Divide your mix into 3 equal parts and form into balls. You will have to compress them a bit.
5- Store in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to be eaten. Again, if transporting your balls, please be cautious and put them into a sturdy container – they are fragile!

Some other flavour options I am contemplating:
– Chocolate and cinnamon
– Cinnamon-raisin
– Raspberry-chocolate
– Pina-collada

Green eggs and… salad?

So here we are for another installment of my lunch series.

Just to clear things up a bit – if there’s a day or so that I don’t post a lunch, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t have lunch. It simply means I probably had the same thing I did on another day. Sorry guys, I’m not interested in repeating myself as far as recipes go. I’m sure you won’t mind too much.

Today’s lunch was lighter considering that we had sushi post-workout yesterday.

I had what is basically a cross between an omelet and a scramble… A scramelet? And I had a salad on the side.

Everything but the kitchen sink “scramelet”
Ingredients
-Olive oil
-1 small onion, chopped
-1 leek, chopped
-1 pepper, chopped (I like to use red to give it more colour)
-1.5-2 cups chopped broccoli
-1 egg
-1/2 cup egg whites (approximately, adjust to your liking)
-Cumin
-Paprika
-Salt and pepper (to taste)
-2-3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
-2-3 Tbspn toasted pine nuts (I sub it out with either sunflower or pumpkin seeds)

Putting it together
1-Heat up a large pan with olive oil. Once heated, throw in the onions and stir from time to time until translucent.
2-Add in leek and pepper and fry until al-dente. Add in broccoli and keep cooking until done to your desire (I like it still crispy, others prefer it softer).
3- Stir in eggs and egg whites. Cook through, stirring. Add in cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and any other herb or spices you might like (chives could be lovely).
4- Serving: Crumble some feta on top and add in toasted pine nuts (or seeds).

Yield: 2 servings

Here’s a picture of my salad:

It doesn’t really deserve a recipe as it was very simple:
Mixed salad, sprouts (I sprouted them myself), red peppers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Topped with a mixture of sunflower and pumpkin seeds for added crunch.
I made a similar salad for Salem (which he raved about): Mixed salad, sprouts (I sprouted them myself), red peppers, feta cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Topped with a mixture of sunflower and pumpkin seeds for added crunch.

On the menu for tonight: fish! AGAIN! I accidentally defrosted fish, thinking it was chicken. Oh well! Recipe to come tomorrow? We’ll see.

Quick, simple and yummy – Eat your brussel sprouts!

The great thing about having Salem as a husband is the fact that he actually likes vegetables. I swoon at the fact that he also really likes Brussels sprouts. I always wondered if I was a bit of a weird kid for liking these sprouts as everyone seemed to always complain about them. “Oh, the dreaded Brussels sprouts!”

I stumbled upon the Lentil Almond Stir-Fry Recipe on the 101 Cookbooks blog the other day and was thrilled to find a new recipe in which to incorporate our beloved sprouts! Woohooo! I highly suggest you peruse the rest of the site as the recipes seem to be freaking amazing!

Given the fact that I had been cooking all evening, I didn’t make the recipe 100% and switched it up to suit my tastes/laziness. Ha!

So here’s a picture of my lunch today (the Brussels sprout and lentil dish with half a can of tuna).

Brussels sprout, lentil and potato toss-up with mint and almonds
Ingredients
Main mix:
-Olive oil, for cooking
-8 small potatoes (new or fingerling) o 2 regular potatoes, cut into smaller pieces
-16 Brussels sprouts, quartered
-1/2 leek, chopped
-2 cups of cooked lentils
-1 tspn Cumin
-Salt & pepper to taste

Topping – add in just before serving, to taste:
-1/2 cup fresh or 1 Tbspn dry mint
-1 Tbspn lemon juice
-toasted almonds, sliced
-yogurt (Greek or regular), water down with water or a mix of lemon juice and water if desired

Putting it together:
1- Parboil the potatoes in salted water. Heat up a large pan, add oil and potatoes to brown. **I may actually parboil bake the potatoes next time.**
2- While the potatoes are browning, steam the Brussels sprouts until “al dente”. Remove potatoes from the the pan, add more oil and toss in the sprouts. Stir in leeks when the sprouts start to caramelize.
3- Once the leeks and Brussels sprouts are cooked, stir in the lentils and add in the cumin, salt and pepper to taste. Throw the potatoes back in and toss.

Serving:
I prefer to wait until it’s time to serve to add in these last few things as it keeps the “crispy” things crispy and the vegetables don’t get a change to get soggy from the lemon juice. Simply stir in your mint and lemon juice. Sprinkle almonds on top and drizzle with yogurt (which you can add in as-is, or water down with either water or more lemon juice).