Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Shaving Trendy Veggies

Brussels sprouts sure are making a comeback.  The mushy, over-boiled green blobs of blech that I remember from my childhood have been banished, and the Renaissance is in full swing.  We'll be getting some Brussels sprouts in this week's box.

Photo via Cookie & Kate
So if we're not just boiling them to oblivion anymore, what do we do now?  If you look at a lot of trendy restaurants, you'll actually see them on the menu, traditionally roasted.  To be honest, they're wonderful in the simplest of preparations.  (Well, barring the boiling anyway.)  Simply take off the outer layer of leaves and slice the sprouts in half, toss in olive oil and a generous bit of salt & pepper, and roast at ~450˚F for 30-40 minutes.  The outsides should be beautifully brown and toasty, and the insides soft but not shapeless.  Easy as that.
Photo via Cookie & Kate
But the hip thing for restaurants to do is "shave" them now.  Okay, it's not really shaving, you're really just chiffonading them.  In some cases to shave the sprouts means simply to separate the whole leaves from the heads and prepare as a leafy vegetable.  In either case, the shaved Brussels sprouts are used in salads and slaws.  The little bit of extra prep in shaving the sprouts seems to open all kinds of possibilities.  Here are some ideas for you:



Photo via Epicurious

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