Roasted Winter Vegetables Brighten Up Any Meal

At holidays,  delicious hams, turkeys and roast meats take center stage at the table. A bone in ham, crusted on the outside with brown sugar and spices, turns sweet on the inside after a generous amount of oven roasting. Turkeys, basted and browned, arrive at the table warm, moist, sliced and ready to eat. As much as I love those entrees, what brings a meal to perfection are the side dishes.

Infinitely variable, side dishes range from steamed rice, which goes with just about anything, to spicy kimchi flavored vegetables. For Sunday dinner I like to keep the sides simple.

Today I made two dishes that I really enjoyed. Roasted Brussels sprouts, sliced thin and tossed with yellow onions, dressed with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and black pepper come out of the oven tender in the center and crisp on the edges. The same technique worked well with green cabbage, sliced like slaw, thin and long, tossed with onions and dressed the same as the Brussels sprouts.

Served separately, they were joined on the plate with a roast chicken with crispy skin and soft, sweet meat. If umami exists in a single dish, the chicken with its two sides was umami on a plate.

Easy to prepare and delicious, the sides are perfect for an Easter lunch, Christmas dinner or any meal in between.

Roasted Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Use any size sprouts available in a farmers market. I was lucky enough to find large ones that were easy to slice. Besides trimming off the end of the stem, also peel away and discard any of the outer leaves that have yellowed.

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Total time: 70 minutes

Ingredients

2 pounds Brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed
1 medium yellow onion, root end and outer skin removed, washed
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.

Line a large roasting pan with a Silpat sheet or parchment paper.

Using a sharp chefs knife, slice the Brussels sprouts and onion lengthwise as thin as possible.

Place the shredded Brussels sprouts and onion slices in a mixing bowl, drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt  and black pepper. Toss well.

Spread out on the lined roasting pan. As much as possible, do not let the Brussels sprouts overlap. They are more likely to crisp if they do not cover one another.

Place in the oven. After 30 minutes, use metal tongs to turn over the Brussels sprouts and return to the oven.

When they are crisp along the edges but not dried out, remove from the oven and place in a bowl.

Serve hot.

Roasted Green Cabbage Slaw

At the farmers market, select a cabbage that is firm and about 6-8" in diameter.

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Total time: 70 minutes

Ingredients

1 green cabbage head washed, yellowed outer leaves removed
1 medium yellow onion, root end and outer skin removed, washed
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper, freshly ground, to taste

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.

Line a large roasting pan with a Silpat sheet or parchment paper.

Using a sharp chefs knife, cut the cabbage head in half lengthwise. Using a paring knife, make a triangular cut at the bottom of the cabbage to remove the thick stem at the bottom. Save to use in soup or discard.

Place each half of the cabbage flat side down on a cutting board. Using the chefs knife, make very thin slices, cutting from the top to the bottom until you have shredded both halves of the cabbage.

Slice the onion in the same manner.

Place the shredded cabbage and sliced onion into a large mixing bowl, drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt  and black pepper. Toss well.

Spread out on the lined roasting pan. As much as possible, do not let the cabbage slices overlap. The cabbage and onions are more likely to crisp if they do not cover one another.

Place in the oven. After 30 minutes, use metal tongs to toss the cabbage and onions. Return to the oven.

When the cabbage slices and onions are crisp along the edges but not dried out, remove from the oven and place in a bowl.

Serve hot.

Hardboiled Eggs Get Devilishly Delicious for Easter

What's Easter without Easter eggs? Hide them. Roll them. And, best of all, eat them. Of the many dishes associated with Easter, deviled eggs have always been high on my list. Traditional deviled eggs are delicious but with some adventuresome spices, hardboiled Easter eggs take center stage on this festive occasion.

Our fingers stained blue, red and yellow, my sister and I loved dyeing and decorating Easter eggs.  Our parents would hide the eggs around the house and outside. I'd race against my sister, each of us hoping to find more than the other.

Ultimately when we had delivered the eggs back into the kitchen, our mother turned our colored eggs into deviled eggs with a simple recipe: peel off the shells, cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks. Chop up the yolks, add a bit of mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper and spoon the mixture back onto the egg white halves.

When we were kids those flavors were good enough. But for my adult palate, deviled eggs need spicing up. With experimentation, I discovered that doing something as simple as adding cayenne or Mexican chili ancho powder gives mild-mannered eggs a mouth-pleasing heat. Sweeten the flavor up a notch by stirring in finely chopped currants or borrow from Indian cuisine and mix in curry powder that has first been dry roasted in a sauté pan.

I also learned that deviled eggs can move to center stage, moving from appetizer to entree by mixing in freshly cooked shellfish. Grill shrimp or steam a few Dungeness crab legs, finely chop the savory meat and add to my mother's yolk mixture. The result is elegant and delicious.

My all-time favorite is to add a Mediterranean flavor secret. Add cappers for saltiness, Italian parsley for freshness and finely chopped and sautéed anchovy fillets to take hardboiled eggs to a devilishly delicious level.

Capers and Anchovy Deviled Eggs

As always, use quality ingredients for best results. Making deviled eggs, that is especially true. Use farmers market fresh eggs, quality capers preserved in brine and good anchovy filets.

The easiest way to fill the egg white sections is with a disposable pastry bag. If one is not available, use a spoon to scoop up filling and a fork to distribute the filling into each egg white half.

The eggs and filling can be prepared the day before or in the morning. To keep the eggs fresh, they should not be filled until just before serving.

If desired, add a pinch of cayenne for a touch of heat.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Assembly time: 15 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

6 farm fresh eggs, large or extra large, washed
4 anchovy filets, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Italian parsley, washed, pat dried, finely chopped
1 teaspoon capers, finely chopped
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pinch cayenne (optional)

Directions

1. Submerge the eggs in an uncovered saucepan of cold water. Heat the uncovered pot on a medium-high flame. Bring to a simmer and boil five minutes. Turn off flame, cover and leave the eggs in the hot water 10 minutes. Drain the hot water. Add cold water to cool the eggs.

2. While the eggs are cooking, heat a small sauté or nonstick frying pan over a medium flame. No need to add oil. Sauté the anchovy filets until lightly browned. Set aside.

3. Peel the eggs. Discard the shells. Wash and dry the eggs to remove any bits of shell. Using a sharp paring knife, carefully slice the eggs in half, lengthwise. Remove the yolks and place into a bowl. Set aside the egg white halves.

4. Using a fork, finely crumble the yolks. Add the Italian parsley, capers and sautéed anchovy bits. Stir together all the ingredients. Add mayonnaise and mis well until creamy.

5. Spoon the filling into a disposable pastry bag. If serving the next day or later in the morning, place the egg white halves into a an air-tight container and the filled pastry bag into the refrigerator.

6. Prepare a serving dish. The deviled eggs can be served as quarters or halves. If quarters, cut each halve in two lengthwise.

7.  Just before serving the eggs, cut off the tip of the pastry bag. Having a paring knife or fork in hand. Carefully squeeze a generous amount of the filling into each egg white halve or quarter. If needed, use the knife or fork. Any leftover filling should be eaten on crackers as a chef's treat.

8. As the eggs are filled, place them on a the serving dish and garnish with Italian parsley or arugula. Serve cold.

Originally posted on Zester Daily.