Lemony Leaves of Love ♥

Today's vegetable recipe: Leaves of Brussels sprouts sautéed with shallot and pistachios, drizzled with Meyer lemon juice. Vegan. Low carb. Weight Watchers 2 points.

I've been captivated by the innovative vegetable recipes in the February issue of Bon Appetit. (Remember the salt-roasted beets?) With this recipe, the magazine promises to convert all who hate Brussels sprouts. Me, I make no such promise but this, for baby-cabbage lovers, is one more good way to cook Brussels sprouts.

The technique is to remove the leaves and discard the cores. Task-wise, this felt like teeeeeeedious prep, sprout by sprout, leaf by leaf, core by core (although a glass of wine might have helped!) and resulted in considerable waste: a generous pound of Brussels sprouts trimmed down to half that.

It also took a good 20 minutes. Some forewarning from the magazine about prep time would have been appreciated, especially since the stated cooking time of 4 minutes created the impression of a 'quick' recipe. And then -- after those prescribed 4 minutes, the leaves were still completely raw and took a good 15 minutes to cook. (Ha! Maybe the conversion idea was that people who hate cooked Brussels sprouts will love raw ones? Too bad, there's actually a chemical reason why people don't like Brussels sprouts.)

Still, all these things aside, taste-wise, the combination of the shallot, pistachios, lemon and Brussels sprouts leaves is a complete keeper, even if time-, waste- and looks-wise it's more frog than prince.

FOR THE RECORD
This is my contribution to the annual Valentine for vegetables called Vegetable Love at FatFree Vegan Kitchen. Susan is collecting recipes for vegetable recipes that are vegan and low-fat. (Hmmm ... I wonder how many recipes on A Veggie Venture would qualify. A bunch, I bet!)
Note to Vegetarians

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PIE LOVERS KitchenParade.com is hosting a special event for Pi Day on March 14th. (Get it?)

Yes, we're baking pies for Pi Day, focusing our entries on the fine art of homemade pie crusts and collecting all our best pie recipes and our tips for making great pie crust.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ more Brussels sprouts recipes ~
~ two years ago today, Fennel, Leek & Mushroom Sauté ~

LEMONY LEAVES of LOVE

Hands-on time: 25 minutes
Time to table: 40 minutes
Serves 4 (yes, even with only half a pound of edible leaves, this was quite filling)

1 pound Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil (reduced from 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil)
1 large shallot, chopped (increased from 1 tablespoon shallot)
1/4 cup shelled pistachio nuts (reduced from 3/4 cup)
Water

Salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice

PREP: Wash and cut off the stem end of each Brussels sprout, cutting about 1/3 into the sprout itself. Slice in half vertically. Remove the core with a v-shaped cut. Separate the leaves from the core. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. etc.

Heat the oil til shimmery on MEDIUM HIGH in a large skillet. Add the shallot, stir to coat with fat and cook for a minute. Add the leaves and pistachios and stir to coat with fat. Cover and let cook for a couple of minutes, checking to make sure they're cooking. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. etc, adding splashes of water for moisture as needed until the leaves are tender.

Season and sprinkle with lemon juice. Cover again and let cook another minute or two. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
As Made, with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/4 cup pistachios
Per Serving: 114 Cal (51% from Fat, 13% from Protein, 36% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 1 g Sat Fat; 4 g Mono Fat; 11 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb8; 2 g Sugar; 40 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 18 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers 2 points

As Written, with 3 tablespoons oil, 3/4 cup pistachios
Per Serving: 249 Cal (71% from Fat, 10% from Protein, 19% from Carb); 7 g Protein; 21 g Tot Fat; 3 g Sat Fat; 13 g Mono Fat; 13 g Carb; 5 g Fiber; NetCarb8; 3 g Sugar; 51 mg Calcium; 2 mg Iron; 17 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight 5 points (YIKES)

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Eat more vegetables! A Veggie Venture is the home of Veggie Evangelist Alanna Kellogg and is the award-winning source of free vegetable recipes, quick, easy, and yes, delicious. Start with the Alphabet of Vegetables or dive into all the Weight Watchers vegetable recipes or all the low carb vegetable recipes. © Copyright 2008