Hi everyone, hope you have been enjoying the summer! I have a new favorite thing, well actually a couple, but I'll post more later. This gem is a wonderful convenience item you can feel good about eating...shaved brussels sprouts. I've always loved brussels sprouts and make them often. I'll probably love my new find even more in the winter months but I found some cool enough mornings and even a few evenings to roast these guys in the oven. If you can't imagine turning on the oven in mid August, this product can work well raw in a salad or a slaw as well or sautéed with other veggies.
Trader Joes Shaved Brussels Sprouts.
A quinoa or rice bowl makes for a quick, nutritious dinner. You can vary the vegetables you add to the bowl and can vary the whole grain base. For my clients with diabetes, you can go heavier on the vegetable part of the base of the bowl. This is my own concoction and I have made it both with quinoa and with my favorite texmati brown rice.
Quinoa bowl
with shrimp, fish, garlic, lemon, dried oregano, mushrooms, green onion, roasted broccoli and roasted shaved brussels sprouts.
Cook 1 cup quinoa according to package, takes about 15-20 minutes. I use chicken broth for the liquid for more flavor. You can also toast the quinoa before cooking as highlighted in a previous blog post here.
Roast shaved brussels spouts and small pieces of broccoli florets at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. Make sure broccoli is cut in size similar to the brussels sprouts to ensure even cooking.
While the quinoa and vegetables are cooking, saute sliced mushrooms in a small skillet with a little olive oil. I like them best when they are browned a bit.
Mushrooms will give up their liquid so no need to use too much oil here.
Slice 3-4 green onions and reserve for later.
For the protein I used 12-16 ounces of raw, deveined, shrimp and a 4-5 ounce piece of white fish cut in pieces sprinkled with some dried oregano and pinch of salt. Heat a skillet or grill pan that has approx 1 Tbsp olive oil and 1/2-1 Tbsp butter, add shrimp and pieces of white fish (I used cod here) and a couple cloves of minced garlic. The protein cooks quickly, maybe 5 minutes. If the shrimp you use is small (mine were larger size) you may want to add the fish first so they are done at the same time. Shrimp is done when it is pink and fish, when it flakes. I add lemon when it is done cooking.
To assemble the bowl, first add 3/4-1 cup cooked quinoa, then the sautéed mushrooms and fresh green onion. Add the broccoli and brussels sprout mixture and then shrimp/ fish on top. Add more lemon to taste.
You can make this your own with different vegetables, grains and proteins. The raw green onions add a nice fresh texture and compliment to the other cooked veggies.
Brown Rice bowl
with shrimp, fish, garlic, roasted cauliflower and red onion topped with roasted shaved brussels spouts and kale.
For my brown rice bowl I used shaved brussels spouts and chopped kale as a crunchy topping and roasted separately cauliflower and red onion for part of the base of the bowl. The shrimp and the fish are prepared as mentioned above in the quinoa bowl.
For more tips including how to add more flavor to the rice, check out a previous blog post about the rice and the quinoa.
In the picture below I chopped some kale to roast with the shaved brussels sprouts for my rice bowl. Since the brussels sprouts are pretty fine, you need to cut whatever vegetable you are using pretty small so they are done at similar times. The crunch of the brussels sprouts and kale mixture help provide a different texture and flavor to the other vegetables and rice.
Sliced kale with some shaved brussels sprouts, along with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
The nice thing about the size of the shaved brussels sprouts is that they are very quick to cook. Keep an eye on your oven so not to burn them.
Topping for the rice bowl, DONE!
Extra vegetables for the base of the bowl! Roasted separately at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Brown rice bowl with shrimp, fish, garlic, roasted cauliflower and red onion with kale and shaved brussels sprouts as a topping.
Best in health!
-Brenda
** Blog content may not be applicable to your condition. Please discuss individual nutritional needs with Brenda during scheduled visits.