Brussels sprouts have an unfair bad rap. They’re not the nasty cabbage minis that your grandmother boiled into oblivion when you roast them like this. Recipe also works for broccoli and cauli florets!
Ingredients
1 lb Brussels sprouts
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 T extra-virgin olive oil (garlic-infused makes it extra amazing)
1 t salt, adjusted to taste – skip it if you’re eating really clean
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 t from the jar)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400’F
Slice the sprouts in half, or quarters if they’re really big
Mix everything up in a big old bowl
Spread it on a big cookie sheet (covered with foil if you’re feeling lazy about cleanup)
Roast for 20 minutes
Optional decadence, if you have room in your macros: sprinkle with crumbled bacon and/or drizzle with balsamic vinegar
I love fall baking – pumpkin, squash, apple, and a lot of cinnamon…yum. Unfortunately, baked goods are calorie dense, even with clean ingredients, so even pseudo-paleo baked goods are special treats, to be enjoyed sparingly. Having said that, I just found a great recipe for cinnamon applesauce muffins. Enjoy with coffee on a lazy Sunday morning!
Applesauce Muffins
Recipe Type: Treats
Cuisine: Fall baking
Author: Anne Johnson
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
I love fall baking – pumpkin, squash, apple, and a lot of cinnamon…yum. Unfortunately, baked goods are calorie dense, even with clean ingredients, so even pseudo-paleo baked goods are special treats, to be enjoyed sparingly. Having said that, I just found a great recipe for cinnamon applesauce muffins. Enjoy with coffee on a lazy Sunday morning!
Ingredients
5 eggs (beat those together first)
1 c applesauce (natural, unsweetened, preferably organic – try Trader Joe’s or Sprouts)
1/2 c coconut flour
1/4 c cinnamon
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking soda
1/c c coconut oil
2T honey (optional – I think they’re great without it)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400’F.
Mix everything in a big old bowl.
Spoon into muffin cups greased with coconut oil, or lined with parchment cups (Sprouts has those).
Bake for about 15 minutes at 400′ F. You can also mix them at night and bake in the morning – give them 2 minutes extra in the oven.
I use the “Grill Mates” marinades of different flavors depending on the side and off day or training days. This also works on the grill, and with other cuts of meat.
Serving size: 1 whole medium sized head raw Calories: 146 Fat: 1.6 Carbohydrates: 29 Protein: 11
3.2.2124
Our Food of the Month is cauliflower, which is a little unlikely given that it has to share March with Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes, but so it goes.
Cauliflower is most fabulous because of its chameleon-like qualities, but let’s start with its nutritional profile. An entire head of cauliflower has about 210 calories, so in the unlikely event that you eat the whole thing, it won’t trash your nutrition for the day and you’ll get trace fat, about 45g of carbs (about half each of fiber and sugar), and 16g of complete protein in the deal. It delivers some vitamin C and traces of other macronutrients, and contains mostly water. Not everyone loves the flavor, but it’s mild and makes a good vehicle for dominant tastes like baba ghanouj (eggplant-based version of hummus, with garlic, tahini / sesame paste, salt, and lemon).
Like most “solid” veggies (others: broccoli, peppers, okra – the ones that aren’t leafy and floppy), cauliflower is awesome when roasted. Chop it up or buy florets, toss with olive oil and some garlic or garlic salt, and roast at 350′ for about 20 minutes to make a delicious side dish. You can notch it up a little like this with pine nuts (pricey!) if you’re feeling gourmet or if your mom is visiting.
Now for the “chameleon” part of the story: cauliflower can stand in for mashed potatoes, rice, and even the flour in pizza crust, all of which come in handy if you are avoiding carbs or not having a training day. Really! In order of increasing complexity, here’s what I mean.
1. Cauli puree: steam cauliflower – chop it up, put it in a pot in or over a little water, and boil the water for about 20 minutes until the cauli gets tender (don’t let the water dry up). Carefully slide the tender cauli into the blender or food processor, and puree. You can add a little almond or coconut milk, oil, butter, garlic, chives or sliced green onions, or anything else you would normally put in mashed potatoes (did I mention garlic?). Cauli puree is great on its own, as a side dish, under grilled meats and fish as itself or with the faux-tato alias (faux-tato?? yep, it’s mine and you can’t have it), or as a topping for meat pies or stew.
Caramelized Diver Scallops, Cauliflower Puree, Capers, Almonds, Golden Raisins. Ommmmmm.
2. Cauli rice: it’s pretty easy to turn cauli into rice if you have a food processor; it’s harder with a knife, but can be done. I use this blade:
After chopping a head of cauli, shoving it through the food processor, and steaming it, I have this:
This riced cauli is ready for makeup. Let’s head east…it works great with Cajun food, in place of rice in jambalaya – especially under ample Tabasco sauce. The resulting dish is not as heavy as Mama’s jambalaya or gumbo. Much further east, you can sauté it with an egg and some soy sauce to make faux-ried rice. (Get it? foh-ryed? fried? Okay, I’ll stop.)
Tonight, we made slow cooker soy ginger chicken (thighs, soy sauce, ginger, carrots, and chopped onion in the slow cooker for 6 hours on low), and enjoyed it with stir-fried veggies on top of cauli rice. Bok choy – chopped and stir fried – works well with this too.
Blurry but delicious
Saucy…after the chicken was gone.
Of course, I hit it with Sriracha chili garlic sauce, but I put that stuff on everything these days.
3. Cauli pizza crust: you can make wheat-free crusts with just egg, but cauli works a lot better. I’m a fan of both white pizzas and pizzas with loads of sauce. The recipe shown HERE gives you a set of instructions, and you can choose how you top it. Other DNA chefs have shared their cauli pizzas, which you can top with fresh chopped tomato (or sauce, but check for added sugar), grated parmesan and/or mozzarella (dairy splurge!), GARLIC, oregano / basil / Italian seasoning, and whatever else you like – mushrooms, sausage, pepper…BACON. If in doubt, bake at 350′ for 20 minutes. I find that baking the crust on its own first prepares it to take the toppings and crisp up a bit – less soggy.
Cauli Porn
Feel free to share your favorite cauliflower recipes here. If you’ve never tried it, you should!
Breakfast has always been my favorite meal. As a kid, I loved pancakes, waffles piled with strawberries and whipped cream, cereal, cinnamon toast, sausage, and bacon. Now that I know better, I don’t buy cereal or bread, but I still appreciate sweet treats at breakfast sometimes. I have a go-to pancake recipe and sometimes chop up an apple and saute it in butter and cinnamon before tossing it on top of … well, anything, including just a spoon.
Another breakfast favorite was the sausage and egg casserole that my mom makes on Christmas morning (to go with the sticky buns, that involve freezer rolls and a packet of butterscotch Jello pudding, now off limits – I just don’t like bread anymore and don’t want the headache). Unfortunately, the casserole uses (stale) bread. Fortunately, I have figured out how to clean it up, and the rest of the ingredients are on the good list (except the cheese; use grass-fed cheddar). Note that it has quite a bit of fat so isn’t an “anytime” treat, but if it works with your macros…
Without further ado, here’s my holiday morning sausage and egg casserole recipe, in two steps – making the “bread” and making the casserole. It’s simpler than it looks!
“CORN” BREAD
If you like crispy edges, bake this recipe as about 12 mini muffins. I prefer soft edges, so I bake it in a loaf pan and slice it into 1” cubes. Same recipe goes into stuffing and can be just eaten by itself with some butter, or honey (decadent!)
INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), melted
4 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Whisk together the coconut flour, salt, and baking powder.
3. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the melted butter.
4. Add the coconut flour mixture to the egg/butter mixture and stir to combine.
5. Divide the batter among 6 greased muffin cups, 12 mini muffin cups, or spread in a loaf pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
SAUSAGE AND EGG CASSEROLE
½ lb breakfast sausage, preferably locally sourced from happy pigs (get the good stuff, not the packaged crap with corn starch added)
½ c shredded cheddar cheese (preferably grass fed – Trader Joe’s has acceptable cheddar)
6 eggs
½ cup almond or coconut milk
1 t mustard powder or Dijon mustard
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 t salt (or to taste)
1 sliced green onion (optional)
½ t pepper (or to taste)
1 recipe “corn” bread (above)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350’
Break or slice bread into approximately 1” cubes, and arrange the pieces on the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish
Brown the sausage and let it cool (you can do this while the corn bread is baking); break chunks into small bits
Mix eggs, salt, pepper, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, milk, onion, and half of the cheese
Scatter sausage on top of bread, then pour egg mixture over it and top with the rest of the cheese
Bake at 350’ for 30 mins or until egg puffs up and top is golden brown. Let cool for 10 mins before serving.
