Brussels Sprouts and Red Onions in Lemon Sauce with Almonds

This is one of the dishes that changed from my original Thanksgiving menu. I thought I had stashed a jar of chestnuts in the pantry but when I went to get them they weren’t there. Since I hadn’t planned well I changed the brussels sprouts dish on the fly. Normally I would make my brussels sprouts with agave and mustard but I thought we had enough sweet dishes on the table so I wanted something that was all savory. Lemon and almonds both work beautifully with brussels sprouts so that is what I went with.

The men in my family love brussels sprouts so they are somewhat of a requirement for fall dinners. Since I like lemon this recipe also worked well for me. Remember to cook the brussels sprouts as little as possible to retain the most nutrition. Since brussels sprouts are part of the cruciferous vegetable family they are good for preventing cancer when lightly cooked. Here is what I made.

Brussels Sprouts and Red Onions in Lemon Sauce with Almonds
Makes 8 approximately ¾ cup servings

Ingredients:

2 pounds of brussels sprouts
½ red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups vegetables stock
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons almonds, sliced
1 pinch Italian finishing salt

Directions:

Clean the brussels sprouts by removing the bottom of the sprout with a sharp paring knife and removing the two exterior leaves. Cut each sprout in half, top to bottom. Steam the sprouts until they are just beginning to get tender (about 8 minutes). They will continue to cook in a sauce so you don’t want to take them too far when you steam them.

Cook the onion in a little vegetable stock (about a ½ cup) until it is soft. Add the remaining vegetable stock, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the dissolved cornstarch and bring the sauce to a simmer so that the sauce will reach its maximum thickness.

To serve, plate the sprouts and sauce and top with the almonds and a pinch of the Italian finishing salt and serve hot.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 74.07
Calories From Fat (17%) - 12.52

Total Fat - 1.49g
Saturated Fat - 0.16g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 65.9mg
Potassium - 468.23mg
Total Carbohydrates - 13.74g
Fiber - 4.81g
Sugar - 2.81g
Protein - 4.43g

Comments:

The sprouts were well received at dinner last night. While everyone loves the version I make with agave and mustard these also disappeared fairly quickly. I liked the acidity in the sauce and the crunchiness of the almonds. Overall this is a nice well-rounded dish.

Each serving of this dish contains more than 800IU of vitamin A, 100mg of vitamin C, 70mcg of folate, and 200mcg of vitamin K. Not too shabby for a small serving of veggies.

Unrelated Note:

I need to get back to cleaning. However, I will be back later today with another recipe. I hope you are all having a great day.