A New Year's Resolution Report: Eat More Vegetables

This year, like some other years in recent past, I resolved to eat more vegetables.   Usually,  after a long Christmas holiday of lots of eating and drinking, I become inspired. I also start counting Weight Watchers points, change up my workout routine, etc.   This year, I wanted the vegetable thing to stick.   I love vegetables, but I find that sometimes, I don't spend enough time cooking them.   I put a request out to the Mothers Kitchen Facebook group  (join us by clicking here) for advice on how to make it happen.

Debbie gave me a really great idea: eat 2 vegetable sides at lunch and dinner.   I'm getting the hang of doing it.  I found this veggie packed minestrone soup recipe, which should help.  It's loaded with vegetables.  Patty suggested baby spinach sauteed with olive oil, salt and lots of garlic.with a fried egg and whole wheat toast.  I've been having that for breakfast.

Salli had suggested this spicy roasted brussels sprouts recipe, and it looked promising....

but the reality of the recipe didn't look so hot.  First, it called for a half cup of olive oil, which is insane!  If I were going to do that, I'd just eat a bag of Doritos and call it "corn" and count that as a vegetable.   I had to scale that back.  Next was the amount of sriracha it called for....way too little in my book.   I upped it by 2x.  I didn't have rice wine vinegar but I did have a nice white wine vinegar.  The last issue wasn't as obvious at first glance, although something stuck in my craw when I poured the sprouts on the baking pan...I couldn't put a finger on what it was, but I was troubled.

After 20 minutes of roasting, I figured it out:

Of course, anything with honey in it is going to turn into shellac in a 400 F oven on a baking sheet!  My husband suggested I just throw the pan out and buy another, but I'm too thrifty for that.  I busted out my Norwex Spirinet Scrubber, and with about 30 seconds of scrubbing it was clean as a whistle.  Love Norwex stuff!   Next time, I'll line the pan with foil.   So how did they come out?  Fanstastic!  Plus, my version of the sauce was so tasty I think I'll make up a batch and use it as salad dressing.  

Better Spicy Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1½ pounds brussels sprouts

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup white wine vinegar

¼ cup honey

4 tablespoons Sriracha, or more to taste

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Trim the base away from the brussels sprouts and discard. Cut the sprouts in half.  2. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with the vinegar, honey and Sriracha to combine. Add the brussels sprouts and toss until they are fully coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread the brussels sprouts on a FOIL LINED baking sheet, cut sides down. Pour any extra olive-oil mixture onto the pan and tilt the pan around to distribute it. Roast until the sprouts are crispy on the outside and golden and caramelized on the cut sides, 20 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Thanks for the advice!  I can't wait to try more of your great ideas.