Potato Brussels with caramelized brown sugar

I think this dish turned out quite well. It takes a bit of time and patience but well worth the wait.
Brussel sprouts are in season and a wonderful vegetable! I didn't discover it until I moved to the mid-west and it was a wonderful find. People have mixed opinions on their taste, but most don't cook the sprouts thoroughly enough. They should be soft but still maintain a relatively bright crisp taste and ideally retain some of its beautiful dark green colors. We have a baby brussel sprout growing in our garden-soon-to-be-hoop house and hope to get some super local sprouts to eat soon, but for now the farmer's market will have to do. I would also highly urge you to grow some mint and rosemary in your kitchen. If you start with large plants, they will do really well even under the mild abuse of constantly hacking them away to put in my food :).

1. In a small baking dish mix together 5 Brussels sprouts washed and cut in half with hard bottoms removed.
2. Slice 2 potatoes into small pieces (the smaller they are the faster they will cook)
3. Sprinkle a decent amount of olive oil and pepper into the mix as well as a dash of red wine vinegar, and the juice of 1 lime for tartness
4. Add freshly chopped rosemary and 4 crushed mint leaves as well as 1 diced clove of garlic
5. Mix well then set oven to broil on low then place baking dish on second shelf of oven to prevent burning.
6. Check oven every 10 minutes and mix to insure the sprouts don't burn
7. When potatoes are soft and a few slices of butter on top and sprinkle with a little brown sugar
8. Return the pan to the oven and let the butter and sugar caramelize together for a little while ~3-5 minutes. You should end up with a beautiful brown coating on your sprouts and potatoes.
9. Eat eat eat! It's a really great side dish to go with any sort of protein you like. Rice always goes well with everything in my opinion!

Theresa's fabulous veggie fried rice

This dish is best made when you have old rice in the fridge. You know the kind that you don't want to eat anymore that's all dry and yucky. But waste not!

1. Fry 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic in sesame oil until golden brown in a frying pan
2. Add 2 small sliced shallots, fry until soft
3. Chop a 1/4 of a zucchini into small bite sized pieces and add to pan until almost translucent in color, add a dash of red wine vinegar for flavor
4. Add mushrooms and 5 fried tofu cubes cut in 1/2 diagonally. I like the long enoki straw mushrooms but you can use whatever you like
5. Wait until mushrooms cook down then add 1/2 a bowl of your old rice
6. Add extra sesame oil, a nice pour of soy sauce, about 2 tbsps of dark soy sauce and a small dash of rice wine
7. Stir then turn up heat to medium high and add a 1/4 cup of water then quickly cover to let the rice steam back to a nice consistency
8. When the rice looks nice and fluffy again make sure all chunks have been separated using a spatula
9. Taste your rice! Add a little more dark soy sauce if it's not brown enough and regular soy sauce if it's not salty enough.
10. Add two raw eggs and stir into rice until cooked.
11. Chop some parsley and serve on top of a plated bowl of your fab rice!

This recipe is easily adjusted depending on whatever veggies you have lying around... Be creative!

B's rating: "50 aphids"