Healthy and Edible: The Salad Bowl makes a unique gift.

Christmas Cactus

Interviewed Chef Priscilla Willis of The Californian who is putting her signature on the menu with dishes such as Thai Shrimp Red Curry.

There’s been a lot of talk about brussel sprouts this past week:  about children wanting to eat them (for real!) and a mom who just can’t stomach it, to Thanksgiving recipes for the cruciferous veggie (how did brussel sprouts become a Thanksgiving tradition anyway?).  In response to the parents commenting on the Whrll slideshow I challenged myself to find a recipe that children, and adults – admit it, the hate starts here, could enjoy, maybe…

But first, the Photo of the Week:

Did you know that brussel sprouts grew like this?  I didn’t, but now the fact that they belong to the cabbage family, along with broccoli and cauliflower, becomes more clear to me.  Kids are always curious about where things come from so I think they would be intrigued by this photo. I found the real thing at Trader Joes in case you want to buy some yourself.

Now the recipe, from Cat Cora of  Top Chef fame:

Ingredients
3 pounds Brussels sprouts 
¼ cup unsalted butter 
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
4 tablespoons capers 
2 tablespoons lemon juice 
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Directions
Prepare the brussel sprouts by peeling off the tired outside leaves and cutting off the stem. Mark the core where the stem was with an X using a paring knife. Cut the sprouts in half.

In a 4 quart sauce pan bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Season with 1 tablespoon of salt. Blanch the sprouts for 10 minutes, or until fork tender.

In a 10 inch sauté pan, brown the butter and add in the sprouts. Cook on medium high heat, rolling the sprouts in the pan, until the sprouts are caramelized, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, and add the capers and lemon juice. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Serves 4 to 6

* I cut the recipe in half – my little family was not going to eat 3 ½ lbs. of brussel sprouts : )

Eureka Springs, AR is a place dear to my heart and a naturally beautiful location full of striking photo ops.