Brussel sprouts are an often over looked beauty food and an awesome option when you are pregnant. Each serving naturally loads your body with essential vitamins and minerals that are important for you and your little growing love. They contain copious amounts of vitamin C, iron, folic acid and fiber.
Here is a delicious recipe I whipped up last night. We really could of eaten it alone however I had a spaghetti squash I needed to cook before it turned south. You can add whatever you have lying around but the combination of the sweet peas and red peppers really evened out the bitter Brussels sprouts. This recipe is also a great option for people who have a real aversion to their strong flavor, they are cooked in a tomato base which helps to neutralize their flavor.
Braised Brussel Sprouts Marinara
Servings: 8-10
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: easy
A comforting and delicious, Brussel Sprout inspired dish for a quick week night winter dinner.
Tip: With this recipe add the sauce slowly you may not need a whole jar. It will depend on how many veggies you have in your pot. It will cook down and thicken a bit so if you just want to eat the veggies I would use less sauce. Vegan, Gluten-free, Nut-free
Ingredients
1 pound of Brussels sprouts washed and sliced in half
1 medium onion
3-4 cloves of garlic crushed and minced
1 large organic red pepper cut into strips, orange or yellow would look really pretty in this recipe too.
1 box of shiitake mushrooms sliced thinly
1 1/2 cups of organic frozen organic peas
1 tbs of coconut oil
2 tbs of Balsamic vinegar
1 cup of organic low sodium veggie broth, divided
3/4 to 1 jar of organic tomato sauce, we used Italian Herb but you can use whatever flavor suits your taste.
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Heat the coconut oil in a sauté pan over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and cook until tender.
Add the Brussels sprouts and 1 cup of veggie broth. Cover and allow it cook for 5 – 8 minutes. Then remove the cover and let the remained of the liquid cook off. There is no need to really stir the Brussels sprouts you can just shake the pan and toss them lightly.
Once all of the liquid is cooked off add the mushrooms and continue to cook the sprouts and mushrooms until the sprouts are a golden brown, another 5 minutes or so. Everything will begin to stick a little and that's okay we will take care of that when we add the balsamic vinegar. If it starts to smell like it’s just burning, turn the heat down and add a little more veggie broth.
Add the balsamic vinegar and stir the veggies scraping off all those delicious bits on the bottom of the pan, do this for about 2 minutes
Turn the heat down to a simmer and add the tomato sauce, red pepper and peas and cover and cook again for another 15 minute. Stir occasionally just to make sure all the veggies are getting a good coating of sauce.
When ready remove from heat enjoy alone or add to spaghetti squash, pasta or rice, top with sprinkling of nutritional yeast and enjoy.