This weeks blog is dedicated to the side shows, the food, not the people. Sides dishes are honorary guests at the main event. A good side dish can enhance the meal and a bad side dish can make a fantastic main dish seem just so so. I'm a perfectionist in recovery and one of my "coping" mechanisms is to make sure I have a well rounded meal on my families plate. Yes we eat in a clockwork pattern! Don't judge me!! I find tackling nutrition is 2 parts learning to read labels, even labels on produce, and 1 part geometry. It's easier to remember how much a portion is if you use the dinner plate to divide things up. Side dishes not only help you keep your portion distortion in check they can help fill you up the right way.
As you can see from this picture whole grains and veggies/fruits should make up the majority of your plate. DON'T FRET!!!! This week we're going to show you how to jazz up those sides so you will not only enjoy eating them but look forward to it as well. OK now for the rules:
First rule of MOM VS FOOD CLUB; we don't talk about MOM VS FOOD CLUB!! lol just kidding feel free to talk..as a matter of fact talk A LOT about us!!
Second rule of MOM VS FOOD CLUB: Take the words nasty, gross, and any other preconceived notions you have of foods and throw it out the window. Laurie and I are going to show you that you can like and sometimes even love foods that are good for you. It's all about TRYING and TRUSTING us. We're not professional nutritionist or dietitians. We're everyday moms who have fought and lost more times than we can count the battle against food. We've fallen and gotten back up and we're here to share with all of you the tips and tricks and recipes that have helped us finally become successful.
Today's recipe is what I like to call the unhealthy brussel sprout. I know, I just went on and on about nutrition and the first recipe I give you has UNHEALTHY right in the title. Just relax and remember the second rule of MOM VS FOOD club, trust.
Ok there are a few things you can sub out for some of these ingredients so feel free to play with this and find out what works for you. I'm going to give you the basic recipe and you can experiment or stay with the basics whatever makes you comfortable. Ingredients marked with an asterisk are interchangeable.
UNHEALTHY BRUSSEL SPROUTS
1lb of Brussel Sprouts fresh if you can get them frozen if you can't.
3-4 strips of bacon*
grated Parmesan cheese
Brussel Sprout preparation:
FRESH: Sliced brussel sprouts lengthwise down the middle and steam on stove top. (If you don't have a vegetable steamer you can par-boil the brussel sprouts in a pot of water with a lid)
FROZEN: If you're using frozen brussel sprouts you'll use the microwave. Open the bag and place the frozen brussel sprouts in a microwave safe container, I use a glass pyrex mixing bowl, cover with saran wrap tightly, you want to make sure you have a good seal on that bowl. Once you get it tight you're gonna poke a few holes in the top. Congratulations you've just made your very own re-usable steaming pouch! Now place that whole thing in the microwave and microwave for about 3-4 minutes. You want to make sure the brussel sprouts are bright green in color and you can leave these whole as frozen brussel sprouts tend to be much smaller in size.
While your brussel sprouts are steaming/par boiling get out a large skillet and fry your few strips of bacon. Once the bacon is good and extra crispy remove it from the skillet and let it dry on a paper towel. Keep that bacon grease in the skillet.
Next step: Remove them from the bacon grease and place into a casserole/baking dish. Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan. Crush up that extra crispy bacon and put that into it as well. Pop that bad boy into the oven at 350 and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the Parmesan cheese browns up. That's it you're done and it tastes AMAZING!!
For years I thought I HATED brussel sprouts and then a friend of mine made these for me and I was hooked. The best part is my kids ask for these all the time.
Now remember earlier I said I was going to give you some substitutions. I haven't forgotten about that either. Here are some tasty substitutions for this recipe.
Instead of pig bacon use Turkey bacon, less grease but you still get that bacony taste and that's what we're after with this recipe.
Instead of Parmesan cheese you can use low/part skim mozzarella cheese.
Some ways to play with this recipe, instead of using bacon or cheese you can skip all of that and use fresh cranberries and slivered almonds. Prepare the brussel sprouts the same way, place in a large skillet with fresh cranberries and a tbsp of olive oil (too keep things from sticking to pan) saute over low to medium heat until the cranberries burst open. Remove from the skillet and mix in a bowl with slivered almonds.
The important thing with this basic recipe is to prepare the brussel sprouts before adding any thing else. Steaming and parboiling them seems to take a lot of the bitterness out of this vegetable. You can mix it up with other veggies, nuts, meats, and cheese to create a flavor that fits you and your family.
Happy Healthy Eating Everyone!
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