Crispy Brussels Sprouts with a Celery Root-Ginger Dressing

Indie Plate promised me big, beautiful Brussels sprouts from Fekete Farms when I placed my order this week ... and they delivered. Right to my front porch in Baton Rouge, where I sat snapping pictures of my full haul until my fiancé got home and snapped me back into reality.

I served these divinely crispy nuggets up as an appetizer while the main course (pork and quinoa soup, blog to come) simmered away.

Honestly, I could have eaten these all night. Good thing I set a limit. Fresh ginger and minced celery root tossed in a sesame-soy mixture and finished with a squeeze of lemon juice. Drizzle of sriracha and sprinkled sesame seeds and chives. Et voilà! Start poppin' away.

Crispy Brussels Sprouts with a Celery Root-Ginger Dressing
Serves 2 as appetizer.

Ingredients:
8–10 brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 1/2 tbsp. olive oil
salt
pepper

For the dressing:
1 1/2 oz. soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 cup minced celery root
2 in. fresh ginger, minced
Juice from one lemon

For garnish:
Sriracha
Black sesame seeds
Minced chives

Method:
1. Make the dressing: Whisk together sesame oil and soy sauce in a medium mixing bowl. Add celery root and ginger and toss to combine. Stir in lemon juice. Set aside.
2. In a medium skillet, heat up olive oil over medium heat. Add brussels sprouts, cut side down, and cook for 7–8 minutes, turning sprouts occasionally to brown both sides.
3. Add sprouts to dressing and toss to coat. Serve on plate and garnish with a drizzle of sriracha and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and chives.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Turnips with Creole Mustard Jus

Oh, sauce. Make a good one and you'll be licking the plate clean. You'll be hiding in the corner of your kitchen sipping on it as an apéritif. You'll be brainstorming for future applications. You'll whip it up again the next night.

Creole mustard jus came into my life during a Test Kitchen I did for Country Roads Magazine. The dish was Prosciutto-Wrapped Quail complete with Creole mustard jus and mustard greens gnocchi. Such a wonderful sauce that it simmered along on the stove while I maneuvered my way through the more complicated aspects of the recipe (up to the elbows in flour and gnocchi dough, but loving every minute).

And so it found its way into my dinner the next night. I had brussels sprouts and turnips from the Baton Rouge gourmet grocery delivery service Indie Plate, and I wanted to put them to good use in a warm, full-flavored dinner. Winter in Louisiana is a brutal time, taking no prisoners.

I browned the vegetables in pancetta fat, drizzled them with Creole mustard jus, and then finished the pan off in the oven. Crisp, tender, and just what I needed. Now where to use this sauce next...

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Turnips with Creole Mustard Jus
Serves 3–4 as entrée; 4–6 as side

Ingredients:
4 oz. diced pancetta
1 lb. brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
3 medium turnips, peeled and cut into 1–1 1/2 inch pieces 
Creole Mustard Jus
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Render pancetta in a medium cast-iron skillet. Once pancetta has begun to crisp, remove from the skillet and set aside.
2. Add brussels sprouts and turnips. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes until vegetables have begun to brown.
3. Pour Creole mustard jus over the skillet, then place in oven to cook for 30 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with toasted pine nuts, and serve.

For Creole mustard jus:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup carrot, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/2 tsp. tomato paste
3 tbsp. white wine
1 + 1/2 cups low sodium or
no-salt chicken stock
3 thyme sprigs
1 tbsp. Creole mustard


Method:

1. In a saucepan, sweat the onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil. Stir in the tomato paste. Cook one minute then deglaze with white wine. Add the chicken stock and thyme sprigs. Reduce by half or until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Strain the sauce into a clean saucepan. Add the Creole mustard and stir to combine. Leave on low heat until ready to pour on vegetables.

Chickpea & Sumac Onion Salad with Roasted Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

I've had a bag of dried garbanzo beans in the cabinet for a while, sitting next to the flax seed and coconut oil and other Things That Are Good for Me. I try not to let that shelf get too dusty.

On Saturday morning I bypassed my usual weekend ritual—gulping down coffee in bed and staring at my phone—and instead meandered into the kitchen with dinner plans forming.

Soaking beans, slicing onions, and sprinkling said onions with salt and sumac. Sumac is wonderfully tart, and after several hours in the refrigerator, the onions were mellowed, chilly, and full of flavor.

I had a few Meyer lemons in the fridge from the Baton Rouge gourmet delivery service Indie Plate. I wish I were one of those people with the overabundant Meyer lemon trees, because I could use them in the kitchen every single day. I used the bundle I got from Indie Plate to make salmon en papillote, a Sensation-style salad dressing, and now a roasted Meyer lemon vinaigrette complete with honey and balsamic. (Next time 'round: preserving and limoncello, for sure.)

Finally I added fresh mint and parsley and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, which I first made as part of a homemade cocktail kit for Country Roads Magazine.

Then I served!

Chickpea & Sumac Onion Salad with Roasted Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette 
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups chickpeas, cooked*
1 white onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sumac
1 tablespoon salt
10 leaves fresh mint, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
Pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoons olive oil

For the roasted Meyer lemon vinaigrette (sourced from Sandwich Sunday):
2 Meyer lemons, halved
2 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon balsamic
3 tablespoons olive oil

*I used dried chickpeas and soaked them for a few hours before soaking another hours in a pot of boiled water removed from heat. I then used fresh water to cook them, simmering, for another two hours.

Method:

1. Make ahead: In a medium-size bowl, combine onion slices, sumac, and salt. Cover and chill for several hours.

2. For the vinaigrette: Preheat oven to 400. Place lemon halves (cut side down) in a baking dish, alongside unpeeled garlic cloves. Roast for 25—30 minutes, until lemon tops have begun to brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Then squeeze out roasted garlic into a small prep bowl. Mash, then squeeze in lemon juice. Add honey and balsamic, then whisk in olive oil.
3. To make the salad, combine chickpeas, onions, mint, and parsley in a large bowl. Pour in vinaigrette, olive oil, and pomegranate molasses. Toss and serve.