Sesame Garlic Brussels Sprouts
adapted from From Asparagus to Zucchini
Here’s a different way to think about Brussels sprouts’ flavor: pair them with an Asian-inspired sauce!
Make the sauce by combining: about a ¼ cup of soy sauce, a few tablespoons sesame oil, crushed red pepper flakes to taste, minced garlic to taste, and a few tablespoons of water. Let sit while cooking Brussels sprouts.
Cook Brussels sprouts using method you prefer: boiled, blanched, sautéed, or stir-fried. Once cooked to your preference, toss well with soy sauce mixture and serve immediately or allow sprouts to marinate one or more hours before serving.
Beet soup
This is a highly adaptable soup, suitable for the addition of almost any fall vegetable. It is more accurately a mixed vegetable soup, but the addition of beets generally ‘colors’ the soup with the beets’ dominant flavor and hue.
Begin by chopping and sautéing one or more onions in a stock pot. Add minced garlic to your preference. Peel and chop several large beets and any other vegetable you have on hand: potatoes, carrots, kale, cabbage, parsnips, etc. Add the chopped vegetables to the stockpot and fill with good quality stock until veggies are just barely covered. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until veggies are very soft.
If you like a chunky soup, it’s ready to serve. For a smoother soup, remove soup from heat and use a stick blender to roughly puree (or very carefully puree batches of soup in a normal blender or food processor). If you prefer, hold back some of the soup from the pureeing process and then add back to the pot (to keep some ‘chunky’ texture.) Return soup to low heat to keep warm until serving.
Traditionally, beet soup (or ‘Borscht’) is garnished with sour cream, plain yogurt or crème fraiche.
