brussels sprouts

A couple nights ago I went to go see the movie Chef with my best friend, Anna and her mom, Carol. We all loved the movie and it made us really crave some latin food truck food.

Carol has one of the best jobs ever: she’s a restaurant critic. Over the past 7 years I’ve been friends with Anna, I’ve had the pleasure of going along on many trips with Carol to restaurants she’s reviewing. Because of her job Carol always knows about the coolest up and coming foodie places and she is always so enthusiastic to share them with everyone.

After seeing Chef, we got talking about awesome places for food. Carol suggested we take an outing to a place called The Source the next morning to get some breakfast.

So, the next morning, we departed for the sketchy Denver neighbourhood, nicknamed “RiNo”, by the hipster gentrifiers.
Once we step foot inside, I automatically fall in love with this place. It’s a wearhouse renovated to be an industrial chic foodie marketplace. Unfortunately since we went so early there were only 3 little shops open: a barebones French bakery, a little cafe and a gourmet foods shop.

We had french pastries and coffees, both were delicious, of course.

After The Source, we went back to Anna’s house and started making lunch. I know, we just ate breakfast and now we’re already into the next meal. What can I say? My life just revolves around food.

After scoping the kitchen for ingredients, we decided on a salad.

Let me just make a note about Anna’s kitchen. Carol not only is a super talented writer and taster of food, she also went to cooking school and is a phenomenal cook. Due to this Anna’s kitchen is the best place to cook. They always have a ready supply of interesting gourmet ingredients and practically any type of pot, pan or cooking utensil you might need.

Here’s what we made:

Roasted Brussels Sprout and Kale Salad with Chicken (and a whole lot of other delicious things)

What You’ll Need:

*A note about the amounts of the ingredients: salad to me are a very free form type of cooking and very adaptable to individual likes. We chose brussels sprouts to be the main player, but if you prefer broccoli, tweak the proportions to highlight what you like.

1.5 pounds of brussels sprouts (halved)

A small bundle of kale, de-veined and chopped into small pieces

A small head of broccoli, cut into bite-sized flourets

1 medium sized carrot, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 1/2 cups cooked green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (These were leftovers we found in the fridge. I find salads are a great way to use up things you have sitting in the fridge.)

1/2 of an english cucumber

1 cooked chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces (Also a leftover)

2 inches fresh ginger root, peeled and minced

Rice Vinegar

Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (if you aren’t familiar with this it’s a salty brown sauce that’s very similar to soy sauce, but it’s a bit less intense and has a more rounded flavour)

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Black Pepper

*A bit of hard goat cheese shredded for garnish, I can’t remember what type we had but manchego would be good too.

First, you need to start the brussels sprouts because they take the longest to roast. We roasted them on the grill using a technique Anna showed me that worked fantastically.

Prep the sprouts by cutting them in half and put them in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Sprinkle some olive oil, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos and a bit of salt and pepper over them and put the pan directly on the grill. Close the lid and leave them to roast for 10-15 mins until tender and slightly browned, giving them a jostle/stir about every 3 minutes.

Next, prep the broccoli and carrots and steam them until tender in a small sauce pan. Don’t forget to spray them with some cold water after draining them to keep them from over cooking once they’re off the heat.

While the roasting and steaming is happening prep the green beans, ginger, cucumber, kale and chicken.

Once you’ve de-veined and chopped the kale put it in a bowl with some rice vinegar and massage it.

This sounded weird to me too, but Anna assured me that chopping the kale small and massaging it with vinegar is a trick to make it less bitter.

Next, add some liquid aminos, the ginger, cucumber and the green beans to the kale and give it a mix. Don’t be afraid to over dress this mixture a bit because the broccoli and carrots aren’t seasoned at all.

Once the sprouts and broccoli and carrots are done, you’re ready to plate!

We kept everything separate until we plated so that we could place everything where we wanted, but you could give it all a mix together before plating if you so desire.