Green Egg Scramble

I do so like green eggs and ham!
Thank you! Thank you,
Sam-I-am!

                                                           -Dr. Seuss

 

Now that Valentines Day has become a memory, my mind is now rushing to March and the promise of spring, and St. Patrick's Day. Of all of the holiday's, my two very most favorite are Valentines Day and St. Patrick's day because there are no grand preconceived ideas about what should and shouldn't happen. It is a blank canvas and every year and I have the opportunity to create what I want to with the time and energy that I have.

 

St. Patrick's Day usually involves a green breakfast thanks to our naughty little leprechaun, a large spread of Irish delights (for dinner last year we had Stout Braised Short Ribs, Irish Colcannon and Irish Soda Bread) and discovering the mischief that our leprechaun has gotten into as we were sleeping. Our leprechaun has been known to toilet paper the living room, leave footprints in our hall and on the toilet seat, draw with gel food coloring on our counter and last but not least turn our toilet water and milk green. Our green milk then turns our eggs or cereal green. 

 

With recent news regarding the safety of synthetic food coloring I have been thinking forward to the mischief of our friend from the emerald isle and have decided that it is time to do things a little differently. I have also been thinking about how I nourish my family. I feel like I feed them decently well, but if I really took a step back I have a long ways to go to be able to say that I actually nourish them.

 

All of this was on my mind this morning while I prepared breakfast. I had just gotten home with my Bountiful Basket and my mind was already swirling with ideas of how I would use my basket in the coming week. My sister-in-law had mentioned a while back that she sneaks spinach into her kids scrambled eggs on a fairly regular basis by just blending the two together. Brilliant!

 

When my kids were really little we did an "at home" preschool co-op with some other families in our neighborhood. We followed the "Joy School" curriculum which was a fun adventure for our whole family. My kids have always been adventurous eaters, but I love the encouragement from "Joy School" to help our kiddo's be risk takers and to try things that they wouldn't normally try.

 

Inevitably I got to teach one of the food lessons where the kids would try new foods. I usually opened with "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Suess and we highlighted the fact that the character in the book made his mind up about green eggs and ham before he ever had a chance to taste it. Once he tasted it, albeit reluctantly, he loved it.

 

Parents can go a long way in either encouraging or discouraging an adventurous palate just in the way they present a meal. If you start out telling your child it is weird or that they probably won't like it, you will probably be right. Don't sabotage the experience with your own biases. Present the meal with excitement and maybe a little magic. You could prepare these eggs on St. Patrick's day morning and the thought that a leprechaun had something to do with the reason that they are green may help even your pickiest eater to give it a little try.    

 

 

Green Egg Scramble

 

6 eggs

1/2 bunch spinach, rinsed and trimmed

1 Tbsp butter

1 leek diced and rinsed (can substitute 1/2 onion as well)

2 small or 1 medium zucchini chopped

1 c salsa divided

1 large avocado diced and divided

 

In blender combine eggs and spinach. Blend until frothy green.

 

In a medium deep skillet melt butter and saute leek until it is somewhat translucent and fragrant (about 2 minutes).

 

Add zucchini and stir fry for an additional 2 minutes.

 

Add eggs and cook until they are cooked through.

 

Top with salsa and avocado.  

Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Feta

We kids feared many things in those days

- werewolves, dentists, North Koreans, Sunday School

- but they all paled in comparison

with Brussels sprouts

                                                                          -Dave Barry

 

Forget everything you know, or think you know about Brussels sprouts. One bite of these delectable little beauties will have you singing a new tune.  

 

I have always loved Brussels sprouts, except for a short time when my older brother Mike told me that since Cabbage Patch Kids came from cabbages and Brussels sprouts are essential mini cabbages then Cabbage Patch Kids Preemies must come from Brussels sprouts. It only took one tear filled dinner to quickly dispel that myth. 

 

Brussels sprouts to me are, just as Mike said, mini cabbages. Being mini, they contain all of the flavor of a cabbage in a much smaller package which makes the flavor much more intense. The bitter flavor is one of the reasons Brussels sprouts get such a bad rap, that and if they aren't cooked properly they can turn into a slimy ball of wilted sadness that no one wants to eat.

 

That is the beauty of this dish. You aren't boiling the Brussels sprouts so they don't soak up excess liquid. The salty taste of the bacon and the sweetness of the cranberries help draw out the bitter flavor in the Brussels sprouts leaving you with a very mild "baby cabbage" giving you the opportunity to enjoy all of the health benefits of these tiny powerhouses.

 

I added asparagus to this dish during our Thanksgiving feast, throwing in a full bunch cut into 1 inch sections when the Brussels sprouts were almost half cooked and I loved the results. Asparagus and Brussels sprouts go really well together. If you wanted a vegetarian version of this dish you could omit the bacon and substitute a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and serve it over a bed of brown rice or barley. This is something that I will be experimenting with in the near future and will post here as soon as soon as I have perfected the recipe. But for now, I hope you will give Brussels sprouts another chance with this quick and easy recipe that even you pickiest eater will enjoy. (p.s. my kiddo's aren't fans of feta, so I always serve theirs first and sprinkle mine with feta once it is on my plate)

 

 

 

Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Feta

 

1 pound of Brussels sprouts washed, trimmed and halved

1/2 pound of bacon, crispy cooked (reserve 2 tsp of drippings)

1 C dried cranberries

1 C toasted nuts of your choice (I have used hazelnuts and macadamia nuts)

1/2 C feta cheese crumbles

 



In large skillet, that has a lid, cook bacon until it is crispy.

Remove bacon and clean out drippings, reserving 2 tsp of drippings to saute the Brussels sprouts.

In the same skillet, warm 2 tsp of bacon drippings over medium heat.

Add Brussels sprouts and stir fry for about 5 minutes, covering with lid after each stir.

Add cranberries and continue to stir fry for another 5 minutes, covering with lid to allow the Brussels sprouts time to steam and soak up the flavor of the cranberries.

Add cooked bacon and nuts and stir fry for 2-3 minutes more until Brussels sprouts have cooked through to desired doneness but stir frequently so as to keep the bacon from burning.

Remove from heat and sprinkle with desired amount of feta just before serving.