Crisp and Crunchy Brussels Sprout Salad

After the recent roasted fall salad I made was a hit with both my husband and daughter, I decided to make another variation this past week. Again, I began with roasted Brussels sprouts from the CSA as my base, and used one of my favorite flavor combinations to compliment them, apples, blue cheese and walnuts. I made a simple maple-dijon dressing, and used it as a marinade for some pan seared tempeh strips. This salad was equally delicious, but had a lot more crunch and a fresher flavor due to the raw apples. We ate it warm/room temperature, but I'm sure cold leftovers would taste great. I just saw I've got another stalk of Brussels in this week's share, so I'm sure in another week, you'll see another Brussels sprout salad!

Crisp and Crunchy Brussels Sprout Salad

Veggie by Season original

1 lb. Brussels sprouts, trimmed

1 tbsp. olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

1 apple, any variety, cored and diced

1/4 c. crumbled blue cheese

1/4 c. toasted walnut pieces

1 8oz. package of tempeh

dressing/marinade:

2 tbsp. maple syrup

2 tbsp. dijon mustard

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp. olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

1/4 c. sliced scallions

Preheat oven to 400*

Add toss Brussels sprouts in olive oil, salt and pepper on a cookie sheet, roast for 25-35 minutes, tossing occasionally, until browned.

Whisk together all dressing ingredients, add half to a bowl and toss with sliced tempeh.

Preheat a nonstick skillet to medium heat, add tempeh slices and sear on each side for 2-3 minutes.

Add Brussels sprouts to a serving bowl, toss in apples and nuts, top with tempeh strips, blue cheese, and drizzle with remaining dressing.

Serve warm or refrigerate and serve chilled later. 

Roasted Harvest Vegetable Salad

I've always been a big fan of grain or starch based salad bowls with fun veggies, nuts, or fruits added in. They tend to make a nice, complete lunch and the leftovers are always just as good, if not better. After receiving another delightful stalk of Brussels sprouts in my CSA basket, I decided to make a hearty, warm vegetable salad with seasonal ingredients. This, after all, the tagline of this blog!

I started with sweet potatoes as my base, they've always been a favorite of mine, but Violet goes bananas over them, so they're much more prevalent in our diet these days. I had some cranberries in the fridge, and figured a nice sweet and acidic flavor would pair well. Lastly, I needed a nut, and chestnuts were on clearance from the holidays, and fit in perfectly! I used a maple-tahini dressing that I whisked up last minute from kitchen staples, and this bowl was complete!

Roasted Harvest Vegetable Salad

Veggie by Season original

2 tbsp. olive oil, divided

kosher salt and black pepper

2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed well

1 lb. brussels sprouts

1/2 lb. fresh cranberries

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 oz. chestnuts

1/2 c. chopped green onions

dressing:

1/4 c. tahini

2 tbsp. maple syrup

Juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

Olive oil, if necessary

Preheat oven to 450*

Slice sweet potato into 1/2" disks, then dice into smaller cubes, place on a baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper, toss well. 

Cover loosely with aluminum foil and place in the oven while you prepare Brussels sprouts.

Trim the Brussels sprouts, leave smaller ones whole, halve or quarter larger, add to a baking sheet with the cranberries and minced garlic, toss in 1 tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper, add to the oven.

After 15-20 minutes, remove the foil from potatoes, toss and place back in the oven, uncovered. 

After another 10 minutes, check vegetables, they should be just crisping on the edges, toss and continue to roast if necessary.

In a small dish, whisk dressing ingredients.

In a serving dish, layer in potatoes, Brussels sprouts, chestnuts and green onions, gently toss but be careful to not break potatoes. 

Drizzle with half of the dressing, serve the rest on the side.

Serve warm, or at room temperature, store leftovers in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. 

Maple-Mustard Glazed Carrots

If you searched the archives of this blog, you'd find a hard time locating recipes that called for butter. While I was working really hard to lose weight, I cut calories everywhere I could. Butter and olive oil seemed like wasted calorie bombs. All I saw was 190 calories and 10 grams of fat per serving. However, as I entered more of a maintenance mode, I began to embrace things like butter, sugar, and healthy fats in small doses.

As I began cooking with butter, I realized a little goes a long way in regard to flavoring the dish and helping to caramelize vegetables. That 1 tablespoon of butter wasn't so scary when it was divided up into 4 portions, and certain vegetables became much more palatable!

When I received a bunch of gorgeous bi-colored carrots in my CSA bag, I searched one of my favorite recipe banks, the Williams-Sonoma website! I found this recipe, but swapped out maple syrup for brown sugar because I love the maple-mustard combo! These carrots were delicious, they had a great balance of flavors and are a really simple side for any meal!

Maple-Mustard Glazed Carrots

adapted from Williams-Sonoma

2 c. peeled and sliced carrots

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. whole grain dijon mustard

1 tbsp. pure maple syrup

salt and pepper, to taste

Herb garnish, if desired (parsley, chives, scallions)

Add carrots to a saucepan, cover with water.

Boil over high heat until water is evaporated (about 5 minutes), turn heat to low.

Add butter, mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper. 

Stir well to combine.

Taste and adjust seasonings.

Pour into a serving dish and garnish, if desired.

Pumpkin-Mango Casserole with Macadamia Crumble

Along with the Chestnuts, I received a pound of raw Macadamia nuts from Oh! Nuts. I chose these because they're my husband's favorite nut, and I thought he'd appreciate a few dinners featuring them. If you saw my post from last week, you know I am now the proud owner of a freezer full of pumpkin puree, courtesy of my green thumb (and yes, that is dripping with sarcasm... the pumpkins are pretty much the only garden success I've had). 

Mangoes were $.50/each this week, and go naturally with Macadamia nuts, so I thought a Thanksgiving-esque casserole with a crunchy Macadamia crust sounded great. We ate this casserole with dinner, but it could easily be a delicious breakfast! It's a bit eclectic, but suited our tastes.

Pumpkin-Mango Casserole with Macadamia Crumble

2 c. pumpkin puree

1 mango, peeled, pitted and finely diced

1 egg white

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp. packed brown sugar

crumble:

1/2 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. roughly chopped raw Macadamia nuts

2 tbsp. pure maple syrup

pinch of cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400*

In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg white to a froth.

Add pumpkin, mango, cinnamon, salt and brown sugar.

Gently whisk to combine.

Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray (I used 2 small ramekins for individual servings).

Add the pumpkin mixture.

In a small dish, toss crumble ingredients together.

Sprinkle over pumpkin mixture in casserole dish.

Place in the oven, bake for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly and crumble has browned.

Spicy Apple-Maple Tempeh Sausage Patties

I've been experimenting so much lately with vegetarian meat substitutes because as I stated, I'm trying to completely cut all fake, processed meat products from my diet. I've found that if I make double batches, form patties and keep them in the freezer, I'm more likely to not grab a box at the grocery store. One of my favorite meat substitutes is tempeh, which is simply fermented soybeans. I've read quite a bit about the link from soy to breast cancer as my Mom developed breast cancer two years ago (and beat it!), and from what I've read, soy in its whole form is ok, it's the processed soy products and oils that are more risky. So for me, that means tofu, tempeh and soymilk are ok! 

Soysausages are very convenient to top a pizza, serve with breakfast or throw in a sandwich, but again, super processed. So I thought I'd attempt soysausages with tempeh. I really liked these, but wish they had been a bit tighter. I think perhaps if I made them and froze them and then cooked the patties, they might not crumble as much, but they were still great. To incorporate the apple-maple flavor and add moisture, I used maple syrup and applesauce, and then simply flavored them with traditional sausage spices. 

I will definitely be making these again soon, with different variations and methods of cooking. For now though, I'm going to call this attempt a success! 

Spicy Apple-Maple Tempeh Sausage Patties

1 10 oz. package of plain tempeh

1 egg white

1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp. pure maple syrup

2 tsp. fennel seeds

2 tsp. dried rubbed sage

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Cut tempeh in 1" chunks, add to a food processor with fennel seeds.

Pulse until tempeh is in a crumb, about the texture of ground beef.

Pour into a mixing bowl, add egg white, applesauce, maple syrup, sage, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.

Stir well to combine, refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Form into 5 patties (I use a hamburger press to get them really tight).

At this point, you can wrap them in saran wrap then foil and freeze or cook.

Heat a griddle over medium heat, spray with nonstick spray or EVOO, add patties.

Cook for 5 minutes, then gently flip and cook for another 5 minutes.