brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes
Brussel sprouts are really nutritious but have a lousy reputation with
average eaters. We've been eating them more lately but not enough. So our sprout
experience needed some broadening to make them more interesting. Our original
hazelnut butter serving approach was apparently no
longer enough to excite us, so bob thought about matchmaking with sweet
potatoes, another nutritious veggie that a higher than desirable A1C test (3
month average) glucose level had forced him to reconsider in light of its much
lower glycemic index relative to ordinary potatoes. Apparently others had
already stumbled onto this veggie combination, since a number of enthusiastic
recipes popped up in the web search. bob decided on a variation of the Sark
salad dressing to coat the small cubed sweet potato along with some extra garlic
cloves for the roasting treatment, while steaming the brussels to make sure they
are just right to combine with the baked sweet potatoes.
We sprung this dish on our neighbors without warning, softening them up with
a 12 layer, notch 6 ultrathin homemade whole wheat lasagna bolognese. Several
anti-brussel sprout guests politely tried it out and actually proceeded to make
flattering remarks about the product without prompting from the responsible
chef. Maybe we have something here. Try your own variation.
ingredients
- 1 lb brussel sprouts, cleaned and quartered
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 5/16 inch cubes
- 3 T extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- black pepper to taste
- seasoned salt to taste
- Middle Eastern red pepper [paprika, touch of cayenne] optional
- 3-4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- extra virgin olive oil to taste in the combination phase.
instructions
- Clean the brussel sprouts and put them in a steamer, cook until tender but
not mushy.
- Peel and cube the sweet potato.
- Press the garlic into the olive oil and add salt and pepper, Middle
Eastern red pepper optional, in a small bowl or mortor, then pestle it
smooth, crushing the garlic into the oil.
- Mix the sweet potato cubes and garlic pieces with the garlic-oil mixture
and spread out in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 425�
for about 30 minutes but check so you don't burn the stuff.
- Mix the steamed brussel sprouts and baked
sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with additional oil as needed and mix in. Adjust
the spices, add more if you think it needs it.
notes
- A1C test.
Indicator of pre-diabetic and diabetic conditions. It is important to aim
for foods with a low
glycemic index in a nation like the US where high glycemic food products
are not only subsidized by congress but pushed on the public by an out of
control food delivery system.
- Illustrations available.