EASY BRUSSELS WITH WALNUTS

EASY BRUSSELS WITH WALNUTS

Our kids have been counting days till Christmas. In just a few days I will have several pots on the stove, both ovens on the go, sink full of dirty dishes and hopefully a glass of wine somewhere near. Following the Czech tradition I cook my main meal on Christmas Eve. This gives my children a taste of Czech Christmas and I get to do minimum cooking on Christmas Day.

Recently Daily Mail online posted an article on the healthiness of European Christmas dinners. The Czechs are proudly standing at number 2 surpassed only by France ( I think the use of foie gras calls for disqualifications). I do have reservation about the way this survey was conducted, but one thing I know for sure the Czechs do not stuff themselves silly on the day. Growing up our Christmas meal consisted of split pea soup (virtually fat free), breaded fried carp (special white sausages for my fish bone phobic Dad) and potato salad. For dessert we always had stewed apple compote with a few walnuts for a crunch. After dinner the homemade cookies would finally make an appearance (they are usually made a week ahead and nobody is allowed to have a crumb).

One thing that didn’t seem to feature on out table were vegetables (apart from few vegetables in the potato salad). Daily mail mentions sauerkraut but I don’t remember ever eating at Christmas. These days my Christmas fishless/turkeyless dinner has been adapted to feature both Czech and English elements. Split pea soup is a must but so are Brussels sprouts. Every year I try different ways to make Brussels interesting and this year I am going to cook them with walnuts.

The recipe below was a quick test batch that serves 3-4 but if you are feeding a crown do double or triple recipe (no need to triple the coconut oil of course). Serve hot straight from the pan. I can guarantee you will want to make these more than just at Christmas.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2524558/British-Christmas-dinner-ranked-unhealthiest-Europe.html

brussels-with-walnuts

EASY BRUSSELS WITH WALNUTS
Easily doubled or tripled. Coconut oil doesn’t need to be tripled. For an oil free version add the garlic and walnuts to the brussels when they are softened, cook for couple of minutes. You will not get the golden brown colour but it will still taste delicious.

Serves 3-4

ingredients
2 cups of small Brussels sprouts
2 tsp coconut oil
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped garlic
handful of walnuts (about 1/2 cup)
salt and pepper to taste

method
  1. Pull of any damaged leaves of the Brussels sprouts and halve them lengthways.
  2. Put the Brussels sprouts into a wok (or a deep frying pan) add enough water to barely cover them and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer till the sprouts are tender, about 8minutes. Most of the water should have evaporated by this time.
  3. Add 2 tsp coconut oil, the garlic and walnuts. The Brussels will start gently frying in the coconut oil. Cook till some of the Brussels turn golden brown.
  4. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
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