Perfect Brussels Sprouts (Recipe)

Earlier this month, I let you all in on the best brussels sprouts recipe for people that, well, don’t really like them. Since then, I’ve been a little too obsessed with finding other recipes for the contentious veggie . I’ve had more misses than I care to remember.. until this recipe, from 101 Cookbooks, caught my eye. Enjoy!

Parmesan-Crusted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

• 24 Small Brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed & cut in half
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra to rub onto the sprouts
• Sea Salt & Freshly-Ground Pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly-grated parmesan

Instructions:
1. Lightly coat brussels sprouts with olive oil.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add sprouts, flat side down, in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt. Cover and let cook until the sprouts are just tender, and the bottoms are just slightly browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove cover and turn up heat. With a metal spatula, toss the sprouts around twice while cooking until the sprouts’ flat side is caramelized. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle parmesan. Serve immediately.

Recipe Credit: 101 Cookbooks

Related:

Sauteed Shredded Brussels Sprouts (Recipe)

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Read more: All recipes, Appetizers & Snacks, Basics, Eating for Health, Entrees, Food, Green Kitchen Tips, Side Dishes, Vegetarian, brussels sprouts

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5 Underappreciated Green Vegetables You Should Be Eating

Michelle Obama wants us to make half of our plate fruits or vegetables, it is World Vegetarian Awareness Month, and we all know how over and over vegetables are proven nutrition superheroes. But before the complaints start coming about how our green leafy friends just don’t taste good, try out some lesser known veggies and discover exactly how delicious they can be. If that’s not enough, a new study out this month says that eating green vegetables at least once a week cut participants’ risk of oral cancer by twenty percent. So eat up!

Leeks: In the same family as onions and garlic, leeks, the national vegetable of Wales, are at their peak during fall and winter. They are found primarily in soups, like our Potato Leek Soup, but can also be eaten raw in salads or sautéed. They contain flavonoids, folate, and antioxidant polyphenols, all important for cardiovascular health. Leeks are low in calories, yet one cup provides many vitamins and minerals including half the daily recommended amount of vitamin K and thirty percent of the daily value of vitamin A. Although less researched for health benefits than garlic and onions, leeks are just as beneficial and their milder taste may appeal to those who dislike garlic and onion’s strong flavor. Be sure to wash these well to remove dirt and grit hiding between the leaves.

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Read more: Diet & Nutrition, Food, Health, Vegetarian, endive, fava bean, leeks, mustard greens, parsley

By Sarah Shultz for DietsInReview.com

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5 Green Ways to Enjoy Fall Fun

As I wrote about last month, fall is one of my favorite seasons and is full of fun activities that I always look forward to. Most of these are outdoor activities, related to farms or harvesting, and are actually very earth-friendly.

These activities include picking apples or visiting a pumpkin patch, or going to an actual farm for pumpkins or to go through a corn maze. These on-farm activities allow you to support a local farmer or business, to eat and shop locally, and increasingly, to find organic apples and other produce.

As I wrote before, decorating the house for fall is one of my favorite things. And, what makes it even more enjoyable for me it that I don’t have to use fake items, but instead, can use the pumpkins, gourds, apples, and corn stalks I get from these farms. I add other natural items like pinecones and leaves, and create an autumn wreath, or make a simple yet colorful decoration by filling a basket or bowl with various decorative gourds, different varieties (and colors) of corn, cornhusks, mini-pumpkins, and other hard-shelled squash.

Another of my favorite activities, and one of the most popular, is “leaf peeping” (going to see the fall foliage), even if all that means is a walk outside. If you live in an area that’s close enough to hike or bike to, consider doing that instead of driving there. Or research whether there’s a spot that you can park and then hike up to it.

When you are visiting a local farm, park, or natural area to see the vibrant colors of leaves changing or to get that perfect pumpkin, do your best to enjoy the outdoors responsibly by minimizing your impact to the environment. Clean up after yourself and pick up your trash. Try to leave no trace that you were even there.

Since it is now football season and tailgating is often part of the fun, make sure you are a green tailgater. Clean up after yourself and recycle as much of the trash as you can. And think about drinking some local beers from your favorite micro-brewery, or buying local grass-fed beef for any steaks and burgers.

Read more: Environment, Food, Green, Halloween, Holidays, Nature, Nature & Wildlife, Outdoor Activities, apple picking, fall, fall foliage, pumpkins, tailgating

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Baked Apples With Candied Ginger & Toasted Pecans

My second son turned one month last week. Needless to say, my ability to cook is a tad limited at the moment. But my big brother and my two adorable nieces were in town for a visit so I handed the baby off to his dad during our older son’s nap in order to pull together a simple but tasty dinner of veggie burgers with avocado and tomato, the world’s best oven fries, a green salad with dried cranberries and toasted pepitas, and even (gasp!) DESSERT.

I decided to make baked apples for three reasons: 1) They are yummy and comforting and warm, 2) It is apple season and the Hudson Valley is bursting with delicious, crisp, sweet-tart fruit, and, 3) Perhaps most importantly, they are amazingly easy to make.

I think baked apples are good pretty much any way but I included crystallized ginger to spice things up a bit, along with some toasted pecans we had leftover from another meal.

The rest was easy – brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, butter (you could use coconut oil if you don’t eat dairy), and some fresh apple cider that we got at a wonderful cider press party we’d gone to a few days earlier.

I mixed up the filling in a bowl.

Cored the apples, stopping an inch above the bottom to avoid going all the way through.

Then stuffed them, topped them with butter, arranged them in a baking dish so that none would tip over while baking, and poured some of the cider into the bottom. Topped it with foil and put it into the oven for a while.

Next: Get the recipe!

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Read more: All recipes, Blogs, Desserts, Food, Garden of Eating, Vegan, Vegetarian, apple dessert recipes, apple desserts, apple recipes, apples, baked apples recipe

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Peanut Butter Recall, Salmonella Alert

Last month, the New Mexico-based company Sunland Inc. recalled multiple brands of peanut and almond butter products, after a string of salmonella illnesses were linked to one of the brands it manufactures. Now, they are expanding the recall to include cashew butters and tahini, as well as blanched and roasted peanut products.

According to Associated Press and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 30 salmonella illnesses in 19 states, all of which can be traced back to a Sunland brand of peanut butter sold at Trader Joe’s (Trader Joe’s Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter).

Sunland’s products are sold at some of the U.S.’s largest grocery stores, under a variety of different brand names. The recall now includes 101 different products, including all products that were manufactured on the same equipment as the tainted peanut butter products.

Want to check if your nut products are safe? The Sunland recall affects nut products sold at: Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Market, Target, Safeway, Fresh & Easy, Harry and David, Sprouts, Heinen’s, Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, Giant Food of Landover, Md., as well as several other stores.

Some of the recalled, Sunland-manufactured brand names include Target’s Archer Farms, Safeway’s Open Nature, Earth Balance, Fresh & Easy, Late July, Heinen’s, Joseph’s, Natural Value, Naturally More, Peanut Power Butter, Serious Food, Snaclite Power, Sprouts Farmers Market, Sprouts, Sunland and Dogsbutter.

Here’s a complete list of the 101 recalled products.

Related:
Eat at Your Own Risk: The Truth About Tainted Health Foods
The Future of the Embattled Peanut
Can the FDA Protect You From Rotten Food?

Read more: Conscious Consumer, Food, Health, Product Recalls, almond butter, food recalls, nut butter, nuts, peanut butter, peanut recall, peanuts, recall, recalls, Sunland, trader joe's

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