Brussel Sprouts and Blueberries

Short and sweet for this entry!
-Blueberries - we've always liked. The bigger, the better! They're great!
-Brussel sprouts: Actually, we really liked these! We're eating them again tonight, actually! Funny story, though:
As we researched how to make these, I read about how you "can't overcook them." Sam also read online about how you "can't overcook them." Interestingly, my take and his take on this phrase were different. Sam thought it meant "you cannot possibly overcook them; cook them as long as you want." I read it as, "one must not let them cook too long." I was right after more research. Apparently, if you overcook them, they will let out a sulfurous smell - ick! It is for this very reason that most people who don't like brussel sprouts don't like them - they smell gross. So, we are very careful not to overcook them for fear of the sulfurous smell to push us away!

Coming up next: Cabbage and Cherries!

Cauliflower and Blackberries

Well, it's been a long time since I've blogged about our foodie project, but that does NOT mean we haven't been continuing it. It's been hard to continue to write about each new food, but we've actually kept up with the project exactly on track. We've done things slightly out of order, which bugs me, but we're doing a good job keeping up. We still haven't tried apricots - not in season - but we haven't forgotten about them!

On our cauliflower week, we integrated this vegetable into a Hungry Girl mac 'n cheese recipe. I cut up bits of cauliflower and tossed it in with some whole wheat pasta and Laughing Cow cheese bits. It was actually very good; I even took left-overs to work for lunch the next day. During the same week, we also cut up fresh cauliflower with some other veggies and oven-cooked them. They're actually very good. I'd still not eat them raw - as you often see them served on veggie plates with broccoli I wouldn't eat raw either, but overall, I will add cauliflower to my list of "Likes!"

. . . and then there were blackberries. . . definite "dislike!" If you know me well, you know my mouth is extremely sensitive to any texture. My tongue is notorious for finding any little seed - known to try to hide in the crevices of my teeth or around my tongue. I HATE that. So, if you know blackberries, you know how many seeds are filled in each little bubble! While I didn't dislike the taste of the blackberry, I could NEVER see myself eating these again due to the frustration I felt finding seed after seed in my mouth.

Coming up next: brussel sprouts and blueberries!

Beets and Bananas

As Sam mentioned in the previous post, we skipped apricots. I'm still waiting to find a good "in-season" apricot and avoid the dried option. So, until then, we moved on to exploring beets and bananas. Bananas have been one of our favorite fruits for a long time. Instead of "cheating" on our goal by just accepting a food we already know we love and keep in the house regularly, we went with a more challenging option of another banana relative, the plantain - which interestingly is nothing like a banana. Plantains have a much thicker peel than bananas. You have to use a knife to cut the skin and a little bit of force to peel the skin off. The texture of the plantain is also more course than a banana. It's not as delicate or mushy as a banana. It's color is also slightly different than a banana.I had tried these years ago, in a junior high home-ec. class, and I remember thinking they were okay. So, we bought two plantains - both at different stages of ripeness. We opted to try the less ripe plantain first - the other is still on its way to blackening (the most ripe stage). I read up on how to cook a green/yellow plantain. There are so many ways to cook it - grilled, baked, fried, mashed, boiled, etc. We went with stir frying, and it turned out to be pretty tasty - surprisingly like a potato or a french fry. We'll let the other one ripen a bit more before cooking that one - probably going to try it mashed.

As for the beet, well, I did not like this at all! I did not like choosing one, looking at one, or trying one. They are ugly! The reminded me of some alien form of a bug. Sam says he thinks it looks more like a heart. Just look at the pictures below: eww! But, we tried it. And, it really wasn't horrible. Sam thought it tasted more like a cooked carrot. It just wasn't appetizing. I made several involuntary facial movements while tasting it. . . not pretty! I won't be making these or buying them again, but I'm glad we tried them. Mostly, I know that if something I'm served has beets in it, I won't be completely mortified or against eating it. I will, however, be glad that I didn't have to look at it as a whole or being cooked.

Next week, we're moving on to much tastier options, I'm hoping: broccoli/cauliflower & blackberries.

Asparagus & Avocado

We know...we skipped the apricot. That was because no apricots were available when we went shopping for it; apparently apricots are in season from late spring through the summer, so we'll try again in about a month or so.

On to ASPARAGUS!!! What a wonderful, entertaining little vegetable! Asparagus is purchased in bundles, usually priced by bundle rather than by weight. There are various widths of stalks available - kind of like the way Forest Gump describes rain - big ole' fat asparagus, tiny little stinging asparagus. I prefer the medium to small width stalks. The most fun part of preparing the asparagus is easily snapping the hard, white bottom part of the stalk off. You simply give it a little bend, and it just snaps off precisely where it's supposed to. It's really amazing.

We chose to blanch the asparagus. After snapping the stalk, we cut the stalk into 1.5/2-inch pieces, which then got quickly boiled (about 2 minutes), and then placed into ice water, which helps keep them crispy. After that, we simmered the asparagus in a pan on medium heat with extra virgin olive oil. Mmmmmmmmmm. Now that made a crisp, hot, refreshingly green side!
(I will note - asparagus does seem to increase *ahem* methane production in the human digestive system.)
Avocado...is actually a fruit. Who knew? I wasn't a big fan of the avocado...and in all honesty, I'm still not. The avocado is a seemingly versatile fruit, commonly known for its use in guacamole. We tried a bite plain...but I'll get to that in a minute. To "open up" the avocado, you simply slice it lengthwise all the way around, twist, and voila!...it opens up. It's really that simple - once you remove the oddly giant seed, it's ready for consumption, or transformation. I personally can't stand the texture, but Am seemed to enjoy it, especially after she mixed in some delicious salsa to add some texture and flavor to the fruit (I passed after my first bite). I don't know how often we'll be preparing avocado, if at all, but I recommend trying it.