SPROUTS

If you saw this in your grocery store for $2.99 wouldn't you buy it too? I carried the stalk home holding it like a baby. I've finally learned how to cook brussel sprouts so they are delectable without any of the stinky, cabbagey flavors. This will be my first batch from the vine. I must try to grow these in my urban front yard. The perfect landscaping plant!



Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:
Brussel Sprouts
Sea Salt
Olive oil

optional: balsamic vinegar

Wash the brussel sprouts, cut off the bottom and pull of the tough outer leaves. You have your choice at this point of roasting them whole or cutting them in half along their length, not across. Whole roasted sprouts come out crunchy on the outside with a soft center. Cut in half they are more crispy, almost like french fries. I recommend trying both kinds. The cooking method is the same.

Place sprouts on a single layer on a baking pan.
Drizzle with olive oil
Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 425 or bake for about 35 minutes at 350 if you want to put them in the oven with something else. Turn them every so often. They will brown on the outside. Taste for desired doneness. I like them quite well-done.

Variation: Sprinkle with balsamic vinegar along with the olive oil.

Egg Lemon Soup

My friend was recovering from pneumonia. What to do? Bring chicken soup!! I recalled my Greek friends who swore by avgolemono (egg-lemon-chicken soup) to heal or head off all ills. They even had an Avgolemono song for soup-making occasions. Just sing out "Av...go...lemono....." - no special tune needed. This is how I made it:

6 - 8 cups chicken broth (I used a combination of Trader Joes and frozen home-made stock)
1/2 - 1 cup leftover basmati (or any other kind) rice or 1/2 cup raw rice or orzo
3 eggs for 6 cups of soup or 4 eggs for 8 cups
juice of 1 - 2 meyer lemons (about 1/4 cup)

Heat soup with rice. Or add 1/2 cup raw rice or orzo and cook in the soup if you don't have leftover rice.

Beat the eggs with the lemon juice.

Slowly add some hot broth to the egg mixture and beat well.

Slowly beat the egg mixture into the hot soup. Do not boil.

The soup will thicken to the point where it coats a spoon.

Taste for salt. Good with a grind of pepper.