Brussels Sprouts and Clementine Sections with Citrus Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Fall means brussels sprouts season at our house. As I have explained before my husband loves brussels sprouts so I try to make him a different version each week. This is the version I dreamed up tonight. It is a cross between a salad and a side dish. My father, who hates to cook, actually asked me for the recipe tonight. He said it was his favorite dish at dinner. Quite an endorsement I thought.

If you don’t have clementines or tangerines substitute one orange instead. I didn’t include the zest tonight because the citrus wasn’t organic. Had it been I would have added the citrus zest to the dressing for extra flavor. The citrus was not supremed because I have read that the citrus membrane is full of nutrition and potentially prevents cancer. Research is recent, but it seems to indicate the citrus membrane keeps trigylcerides down and helps prevent color and liver cancer in lab animals.

Tonight’s sprout dish is a combination of things that my hubby loves. Sprouts and poppy seed dressing are two of his favorites so I knew he would like the dish (and he did). I didn’t expect my parents to be so taken with it. If you are a sprout fan you may like it to. Here is what I made tonight.

Brussels Sprouts and Clementine Sections with Citrus Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 cups brussels sprouts, cleaned and cut in half
1 tablespoon clementine juice (1/2 a clementine)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon agave
½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
1 pinch salt
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
2 ½ clementines, sectioned, seeds removed

Directions:

Microwave the brussels sprouts until they are tender crisp (3 minutes in my microwave).

Combine the clementine juice, wine vinegar, agave, olive oil, salt, pepper and poppy seeds. Whisk to incorporate the dressing.

Pour the dressing over the warm sprouts so that they will absorb more of the dressing. Add the clementine sections to the sprouts and toss to coat them in the dressing. Serve warm or room temperature.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 103.08
Calories From Fat (24%) - 24.88

Total Fat - 2.87g
Saturated Fat - 0.43g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 475.39mg
Potassium - 599.7mg
Total Carbohydrates - 18.2g
Fiber - 5.32g
Sugar - 7.52g
Protein - 4.58g

Comments:

The flavor of the dish is well balanced. It isn’t really sweet, or tart. Even I enjoyed this, and I am not a sprout lover.

If you want to reduce the fat reduce the poppy seeds, most of the calories in poppy seeds are from fat. I like the texture they add, but they are optional.

Each serving of this dish contains more than 1,200IU of vitamin A, 120mg of vitamin C, 100mg of calcium, 100mcg of folate, 220mcg of vitamin K, and 100mg of phosphorus.

Unrelated note:

I need to get my kitchen cleaned from dinner and work in a little more exercise.

I hope to have time to post another Thanksgiving recipe tonight. If not tonight I will get at least two of them posted tomorrow.

I hope you are all having a great evening.