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(almost) Meatless Monday: Sweet and Sour Brussels Sprouts

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Although this week’s Meatless Monday recipe is one to which I usually add a bit of meat flavoring, I do give substitution for totally meatless. So I hope you will enjoy it either way.

Brussels Sprouts have always reminded me of little cabbages. One of the dishes my Grandma Erickson made that I loved so much was sweet and sour cabbage. I’ve never felt like I approached how well she made that dish (but then, I guess things always taste better when someone else cooks, lol). I even asked her many times if there was a secret, but she said no and just sloughed it off that I was making mine just as well. I do miss her (and that delicious sweet and sour cabbage she would make).

Anyway, my local Sam’s had gotten in some fantastic-looking fresh Brussels Sprouts recently. My taste buds turned to concocting a sweet and sour rendition using them. And thinking about the healthy benefits of Brussels sprouts, I am feeling good that something so tasty is good for us, too.

Healthy Brussels Sprouts: High in Antioxidant
Healthy Brussels Sprouts: High in Antioxidant

Here’s what I did for an (almost) Meatless Monday dish (but you could substitute some vegetable oil and a bit of smoke flavor in place of the prosciutto ham or bacon for totally meatless)  …

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts, washed and sliced in half

I like to cut the Brussels Sprouts in half so they take on all the delicious sweet and sour flavors
I like to cut the Brussels Sprouts in half so they take on all the delicious sweet and sour flavors later on during the cooking

3/4 cup water

2 tablespoons rendered out rind from prosciutto ham, bacon or similar

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon dried onion

lemon juice + apple cider vinegar to make 1/3 cup

rounded tablespoon of sugar

rounded tablespoon of whole caraway seeds

Instructions

Use large saucepan/top-of-stove Dutch-oven style pot with tight-fighting lid.

Add water and salt to pot and bring water to boil.

Starting to cook the Brussels sprouts
Starting to cook the Brussels sprouts

Add Brussels sprouts, black pepper and dried onions. Stir then cover.

Cook about 10 minutes over medium heat or until just barely to degree of desired doneness. (do not overcook into a mush!)

In a bowl, mix together the lemon juice/apple cider vinegar, sugar and caraway seeds until sugar is dissolved. Pour into the pot.

Cover pot and let simmer about 5 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Eat up!

sweet and sour brussels sprouts

Well, not the whole pot all at one time. This recipe does make a lot, so you are likely to have more than enough for a single meal. That is fine. Re-heat left-overs in microwave to enjoy another day. This dish holds up very well to that.

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Cooking

Brussels Sprouts with Indian Seasonings

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We’re not only in Lent season, but today is also Meatless Monday. So I wanted to tell you about another tasty vegetable dish I concocted. I call it Brussels Sprouts with Indian Seasonings.

I actually made this dish a little while back, but just had not gotten around to pulling the photos and a blog article together to show you. That means you might have to use frozen instead of fresh Brussels sprouts due to seasonal availability, but I think that should work out similarly. Before beginning the cooking, I slice the Brussels sprouts in half so that the flavorings can more easily permeate them during the later stir-frying. I also thinly slice a medium-sized onion and set that aside.

The cleaned and cut Brussels sprouts
The cleaned and cut Brussels sprouts

I can’t claim much creativity in concocting this dish, as it basically is Madhur Jaffrey’s “Stir-Fried Green Cabbage with Fennel Seeds” from page 94 of the book Quick & Easy Indian Cooking. After all, Brussels sprout is in the same family as cabbage. I actually liked this recipe used with the Brussels sprouts better than shredded cabbage, maybe because there is more ‘body’ to the Brussels sprouts.

I always love the balance of seasonings in Jaffrey’s recipes, so I used the proportions in her recipe for the flavoring ingredients: fennel seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, salt, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and garam marsala.

After heating up a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil in a wok, I sizzled the spices briefly to release their aromas. I just love this part. I like to have all the seasonings measured beforehand, as this part of the assembly process goes very fast. Then add the thinly sliced onion and stir-fry a couple of minutes until the “just browning stage”. Then toss in the Brussels sprouts and stir-fry to the degree of doneness you prefer.

Ingredients assembled in the wok
Ingredients assembled in the wok

Total cooking time goes quickly — about 10 to 12 minutes total, including time for sizzling the spices and browning the onions. You might like to cook the Brussels Sprouts longer, but I personally find they taste better when not overcooked and mushy. If you start with previously frozen Brussels sprouts, the cooking time might be even less.

The finished dish - Brussels Sprouts with Indian Seasonings
The finished dish - Brussels Sprouts with Indian Seasonings

Yumm. For other savory meatless dishes, check out my February 6th article Meatless Doesn’t Have To Be Tasteless.

p.s. A shout-out to my fellow bloggers in this month’s challenge.

V7N Blog Challenge with a Twist

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