brussels sprouts & grits

Today is the first day of sunshine after three days of (much needed) rain. The light spilling into our home feels so nice. Husby is off this week, so we're enjoying time with each other. Mainly, we do our own thing for a few hours, and then meet on the couch to watch 2 or 5 episodes of LOST, and then repeat. Perhaps we'll go on the walk we've craved over the past few days, but avoided because of the wet weather.

Yesterday, we braved the mist and headed to buy real food. It seems that with holiday treats and meals and busyness, fruits and vegetables and non-processed foods hadn't been in our home for some time. That ended yesterday. For some reason, even though I don't (or won't) shop at WalMart, I do go to Sam's Club. I mean, who can pass up those prices? Our only intent was to buy clementines. But as we walked through the fruits and vegetables, I couldn't stop placing things in our carts. We have two pounds of Brussels sprouts, a huge tub of organic baby spinach, cubed butternut squash, mushrooms, apples and clementines. That's a lot of fruits and veggies.

As evidenced by purchasing two pounds of Brussels sprouts, we love them. I saw a recipe on Pinterest recently for a similar recipe, but it calls for frying the sprouts. Because I didn't want to dodge the splatters of grease, I decided to try roasting them. It worked, and they were fabulous. I served them with some garlic cheese grits and a fried egg. It was a perfect supper: filling, but not too heavy.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Sriracha, Honey & Lime
Adapted from food52.com
Serves 2-4

Ingredients
1 lb Brussels sprouts, cut in half
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon sriracha (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon lime juice

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss Brussels sprouts with olive oil and sesame oil. Spread out on jelly roll pan so that all sprouts are cut-side down. Roast until browned, about 15 minutes, turning once.

While Brussels sprouts are roasting, whisk together honey, sriracha and lime juice. Once sprouts are done, remove from oven. Pour sauce over sprouts, tossing gently to coat. Serve immediately.

Garlic Cheese Grits
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup quick cooking grits
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring chicken broth, salt, garlic powder and onion powder to a boil. Add grits. Cover and turn heat to low. Cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in butter and cheese.