Veggies of Ill Repute
There’s not a lot of love in the world for kale and Brussels sprouts. As in most things, though, I find if I work with their strengths, good things happen.
For the Brussels sprouts, halving the larger ones so they all were uniform helped them cook quickly and kept them tasting fresh and sweet. Trimming the stem first allowed easy peeling away of tough outer leaves.
Sweet and Sour Glazed Brussels Sprouts from Cook’s Country
Serves 84 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 pounds Brussels sprouts , trimmed and halved through core if large
12 small shallots , halved lengthwise
1 tablespoon cider vinegarAdjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter and sugar together in microwave. Toss Brussels sprouts, shallots, butter mixture, vinegar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in large bowl. Scatter on rimmed baking sheet and roast until golden brown, about 30 minutes, shaking pan every 10 minutes to redistribute vegetables. Serve.
Back in August, my friend from Knit Think posted about roasting kale. We didn’t have any in our farm’s box till this week, but this is something I’ll do from now on.
Roasted Kale from Suite 101
Of course, any firm leafy green works fine in this recipe. Collard greens or swiss chard could easily be substituted for the kale.
* 4 cups firmly-packed kale
* 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
* 1 tsp. good-quality sea salt, such as Maldon or Cyprus FlakePreheat oven to 375 degrees F. Wash and trim the kale: Peel off the tough stems by folding the kale leaves in half like a book and stripping the stems off. Toss with extra virgin olive oil. Roast for five minutes. Turn kale over. Roast another 7 to 10 minutes until kale turns brown and becomes paper thin and brittle. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.
October 16th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
There’s a Bon Appetit recipe for Brussel sprouts that wins people over, but you have to have a food processor to shred them. It then calls for sauteeing them in butter and finishing with poppy seeds and lemon juice. To die for, especially with chicken with 40 cloves of garlic.
October 16th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
This sounds like the one you mean: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2005/11/state-of-sprout.html so now I’m torn, this one, or the one in Super Natural Cooking. Argh! A nice problem to have.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Even though my CSA season is over, today was last day of Mill City, so I stopped by and picked up both of these things before I even read your post! Kale is something that’s really grown on me (no pun intended) since I started CSA-ing. I bought some extra to freeze–it’s great in soup in the winter. Must try that Brussels sprout recipe.
October 18th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
It was the last week of the NE Farmer’s Mkt, too, and the Chef Shack was there again! We got chili, hot cider, pulled pork and mini donuts with that divine cardamom sugar. (I saved the extra and put it in some coffee, later. Yum.) I really like the smaller markets–we had a neighborhood one, too, on Thu evenings–since the crowds are smaller and it’s easier to figure out what to get. Oh, and way less expensive than the Mill City (which I love, but…)