Brussels Sprouts with Kale, Brown Basmati Rice Pilaf

This past Monday when I made a Brussels sprouts dish with seitan, I received a good comment from a friend that she made a Brussels sprouts dish with garlic and a touch of lemon. I was going to try a simple garlic - Brussels sprouts saute and put some lemon zest in, but came up with another idea (but still intend on trying a dish based on the comment soon).

I sliced Brussels sprouts in half and put them in my vegetable steamer, along with some hand shredded kale leaves - two very healthy vegetables, healthily prepared! I steamed for about 10 minutes and then tossed in some sweet Vidalia onion slivers, and let it all sit in the remaining steam for a few minutes. In the meantime, I put into a glass bowl some Greek artisinal extra virgin olive oil, herbs from my garden, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and lime juice, and heated the bowl in a 350° F toaster oven for about 10-15 minutes. I put the vegetables into a bowl and mixed in the heated oil. Then I zested an organic orange (I would have prefered lemon but couldn't find an organic one in the store today), mixed it in, and added a little more zest to the top of each served portion. The dish came out well!

I also made a pilaf out of brown Basmati rice. I put a little bit of canola oil in a small pan and, over medium heat, sauteed for about half a minute a little bit of onion; added the rice and sauteed it for another half minute, stirring almost constantly; and then added a few pinches of cumin seed, sauteeing it for 10 seconds or so, stirring. I then added vegetable broth (ratio of 2 broth or water to 1 brown Basmati rice) and a pinch of turmeric, and brought it to a boil. I reduced the heat to a low simmer for about 40 minutes; in the last 10 minutes, I tossed in some broccoli florets. I fluffed it all up just before serving.

I included with dinner diced tomatoes and diced homegrown basil with lime juice, freshly ground black pepper, and salt, as well as a garnish (that my wife and I both ate) of freshly picked organic rose petals from my garden. We picked up (Weaver Street Market only makes this on weekends!) the great lemon rosemary boule bread that we love - and this loaf was exceptionally good (or maybe it's just that it was only a few hours old). It was a good dinner - I'd like to buy more Brussels sprouts soon!

Yesterday we were in Raleigh and ran out of time before having to rush to a performance. My wife likes the Raleigh Whole Foods pizza, so we bought a few vegan slices and assorted hot and cold foods from the salad bar for a filling meal before the show.