brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes

Brussel sprouts are really nutritious but have a lousy reputation with average eaters. We've been eating them more lately but not enough. So our sprout experience needed some broadening to make them more interesting. Our original hazelnut butter serving approach was apparently no longer enough to excite us, so bob thought about matchmaking with sweet potatoes, another nutritious veggie that a higher than desirable A1C test (3 month average) glucose level had forced him to reconsider in light of its much lower glycemic index relative to ordinary potatoes. Apparently others had already stumbled onto this veggie combination, since a number of enthusiastic recipes popped up in the web search. bob decided on a variation of the Sark salad dressing to coat the small cubed sweet potato along with some extra garlic cloves for the roasting treatment, while steaming the brussels to make sure they are just right to combine with the baked sweet potatoes.

We sprung this dish on our neighbors without warning, softening them up with a 12 layer, notch 6 ultrathin homemade whole wheat lasagna bolognese. Several anti-brussel sprout guests politely tried it out and actually proceeded to make flattering remarks about the product without prompting from the responsible chef. Maybe we have something here. Try your own variation.

ingredients

1 lb brussel sprouts, cleaned and quartered
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 5/16 inch cubes
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
black pepper to taste
seasoned salt to taste
Middle Eastern red pepper [paprika, touch of cayenne] optional
3-4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
extra virgin olive oil to taste in the combination phase.

instructions

  1. Clean the brussel sprouts and put them in a steamer, cook until tender but not mushy.
  2. Peel and cube the sweet potato.
  3. Press the garlic into the olive oil and add salt and pepper, Middle Eastern red pepper optional, in a small bowl or mortor, then pestle it smooth, crushing the garlic into the oil.
  4. Mix the sweet potato cubes and garlic pieces with the garlic-oil mixture and spread out in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 425� for about 30 minutes but check so you don't burn the stuff.
  5. Mix the steamed brussel sprouts and baked sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with additional oil as needed and mix in. Adjust the spices, add more if you think it needs it.

notes

  1. A1C test. Indicator of pre-diabetic and diabetic conditions. It is important to aim for foods with a low glycemic index in a nation like the US where high glycemic food products are not only subsidized by congress but pushed on the public by an out of control food delivery system.
  2. Illustrations available.
brussels-swtpotatos.htm: 19-jan-2012 [what, ME cook? � 1984 dr bob enterprises]