Ray and Nicole came over dinner on Friday and I made two completely new recipes. They didn't really match each other but overall I thought they were quite good. The first one (and the one worth writing home about) was a reach from my standard cooking and preference. But I know that I need to eat more veggies and Lindsay likes them so much that I decided to give Brussels sprouts a go.
Usually to make any veggie decent (for me at least) I just lightly pan fry in butter with a little salt and pepper (and don't forget cheese). I have done this once or twice before and Lindsay loved it but I still had a tough time enjoying Brussels sprouts. This time I went with a very savory relish of pistachios and dried cranberries. The results were so good that I was actually going back for more. Now obviously the relish was doing all the heavy lifting and you could add it to almost any veggie to make it fantastic but the combination of the two was simply amazing.
Ingredients:
1 lb Brussels sprouts
1/2 cup pistachio meats (I used unsalted) - can be bought at trader joes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Olive Oil - Didn't measure
Fresh parsley - optional if you have it. Approx one handful
salt to taste - Didn't need a whole lot but it did bring out a lot more flavor
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F
Coat Brussels sprouts with olive oil and place on roasting pan or baking dish. Bake at 400°F for approx 25 minutes or until done.
Place pistachios and cranberries in food processor. Turn on and drizzle in olive oil (used approx 1/4 to 1/2 cup). Keep processing until desired consistency. I stopped the processor when they were about the size of bb's.
Combine relish and Brussels sprouts. It was hard to bet the relish to evenly coat the sprouts but if I find a good way I will add it here.
After we realized how amazing this recipe was we used the rest of the nuts and fruit to make another batch to freeze. I think you could add this to pretty much anything and it would really good. I will have to think of other good uses (like stuffing jalapeños, which we did the next day). Also since it is so simple you can make as much or at little as you want.
I gave some of the relish to my mom to try. She said she loved it but put the relish on the Brussels sprouts before putting them in the oven. When Lindsay and I tried it we burnt it really badly. Although we were watching TV instead of watching more attentively so perhaps it was our fault.
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