Recipe Share: Finger Lake Sprouts

Unless you’ve decided to try living off of Soylent, cooking your own meals is an integral part of maintaining a healthy diet.  So I’m going to make an effort to share a healthy recipe I’ve either found or developed myself at least once a week.  This insures a bit more posting and, I admit, I may be sucking up to Pinterest just a little.  Boy howdy, nothing moves faster on Pinterest than a recipe with a nice picture attached!

So, on with the food!

Side Notes:  As I mentioned yesterday, this is based off of something I had in a bistro during a recent weekend trip to the Finger Lakes area of New York State (thus the name).  The bistro version was flash fried in very hot oil for delicious crispiness and finished off with I believe one of those very slow cooked balsamic reductions.  My baked version sacrifices a little of the fried flavor in exchange for a much lower fat content.  If you would like to lower the fat and calorie content even further, just eliminate the walnuts.

In the below recipe I used Thai chili flavored olive oil and fig flavored balsamic vinegar that I picked up at the City of Rochester, NY Public Market.  If this place was near my house, I would be there every weekend.  It is AWESOME.  That being said, use whatever tasty flavors of oil and balsamic that you have on hand in your own version.

Finger Lake Sprouts

1 lb. Brussels sprouts

1 tbsp. good olive oil

2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

¼ tsp. salt (or to taste)

¼ cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut off the end of the sprouts, (removing any dirty outer leaves that fall off) then cut them into quarters.

Wash the sprouts thoroughly then allow them to dry.

Toss the dry sprout quarters in 1 tablespoon of your favorite olive oil and ¼ teaspoon of salt, then spread them on a baking sheet with the inner parts facing up.

Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the sprouts turn slightly brown and crispy on the edges.

While the sprouts are roasting, toast the ¼ cup of walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat until they darken slightly and smell very nutty.

Combine the roasted sprouts, toasted walnuts and 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar in a bowl and toss together thoroughly.

Nutrition Info (per ½ of recipe):

Calories: 250

Fat: 16.5

Carbs: 14

Fiber: 8.5

Protein: 9.5

Sugar: 8

Enjoy!