mediterranean diet: healthy menu meal plan #59
a sextuplet breaks out on its own
I love discovering fun facts about healthy food. And maybe this is old news to the rest of you, but I learned the other day that there are 6 vegetables that aren’t just siblings or cousins, they are sextuplets - not identical but they share the same DNA. Wild, right?
And this healthy vegetable - brassica oleracea - is definitely having a moment. I see recipes for it everywhere. Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale, rutabaga and, this week’s darling, Brussels sprouts.
Stranger still, even with the same genetic background, the love/hate relationship you have with these veggies can be wildly different. Some people adore broccoli (like me), others abhor kale.
Case in point, my mild aversion to Brussels sprouts. Until recently I only liked them when one of my siblings, Constance, prepared them. Slivered super thin, partnered with sliced pimento-stuffed green olives, sauteéd with a little extra virgin olive oil and the sharp heat of minced garlic. The heat and olives tamed the bitter tang of the Brussels sprouts and a final big splash of lemon juice kept everything nice and bright.
But this sibling thing got me to thinking. If I can eat an entire bowl of my raw broccoli salad and love a simple side of raw cabbage coleslaw with just about anything, what could I do with raw Brussels sprouts? The answer was very simple. Just do the same thing.
And the result? Another “eat the whole bowl in one sitting” kind of salad, although I implore you to exercise a little portion control like I reluctantly did!
To turn this into a truly one-bowl meal, I tossed in a few healthy additions to balance it out. Five-minute couscous, pistachios for some healthy protein, diced avocado for some healthy fats, red onion to mirror the sharp flavors, and crunchy juicy bits of pomegranate arils to sneak in something sweet.
This week, in addition to the menu’s featured recipe, I’ve included a couple other recipes featuring some of the other sextuplets. If you’re already a paid subscriber then you know these little extras show up almost every week as a small bonus to show my appreciation for your support. If you haven’t yet had the chance to join us, what are you waiting for?
But right now, it’s time to pull up a chair, grab a glass or cup and join me in my Mediterranean kitchen while we work our way from one flavor-packed meal to another.
