Baked Brussle Sprouts!

Ingredients:  Brussel sprouts (you don’t have to go for three pounds…) olive oil, fresh garlic and salt.

Directions:  Set oven for 400 degrees.  Rinse Brussel sprouts.  Cut off think stem at the bottom of each sprout.  You can leave the sprouts whole or cut in half, depending on the size.  Most important is that all the pieces be pretty equal in size so they’ll be fully baked at the same time.  If you notice mine, some of the larger ones have been halved, but the smaller ones are whole.

Place sprouts on a cookie sheet with a rim.  Cut and quarter one fresh garlic clove per pound of sprouts and place the pieces in different places on the tray, amongst the sprouts.  Drizzle with olive oil and give a few shakes of salt.  Bake for 2o minutes.  Remove from oven and mix up the sprouts with a spatula to turn the browned sides over.  Test with a fork for tenderness.  Put back in oven for 5 -15 more minutes depending on the size of your sprouts.  They really do vary so it’s hard to say exactly.  Check after five minutes if you’re unsure.

The garlic serves to sort of infuse the sprouts with an aromatic presences of garlic.  I do eat the cloves too, but my kids say they’re too strong.

Balsamic Glazed Roasted Beets

Ingredients: Approx. 6 med. beets (these are yellow, but red works!), salt, olive oil, maple syrup and any balsamic vinegar (don’t go fancy-vinegar here, doesn’t matter)

Directions: Clean, peel (if you like) and cube the beets.  Place on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil/sprinkle with salt.  Roast at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes or until beets are cooked.

As beets are finishing up, heat 1/3 cup vinegar and 1 tbsp. maple syrup on stove top.  Stir constantly as it will heat quickly and you don’t want to burn the sugars.

When the beets are done, simply pour glaze over the top and dig in.

Michelle’s Broccolini and Chicken Pasta

Ingredients: two bunches of fresh rough-chopped broccolini (approximately 2 1/2-3 cups), 2-4 fresh minced garlic cloves (I, of course, used 5), 5 tbsp. olive oil, 2-4 tbsp. butter (maybe), juice of one lemon, salt and pepper to taste, whatever pasta you like, left over diced cooked chicken.  Grated Parmesan cheese.

Directions: In a saute pan, heat oil, broccolini and garlic.  Toss, cover on med heat.  Toss again after 10 or so minutes and cover on med heat.  Let this go for about 25-30 minutes (depends on the size of the broccolini pieces.)  When greens are tender you are done.  Squeeze that lemon juice over top and inhale… oh my.  In separate pot make your pasta.  When cooked, drain pasta and mix it up with the broccolini.  Add some butter if you need a little more “yum” to coat your noodles.  You’re making a sauce here, but you’ll want to get all the goodness to all the important corners of your dish.  Add diced chicken and top with Parmesan cheese.