Brussels Sprouts with Tempeh, Baked Potato with Roasted Vidalia Onion, Corn-off-the-Cob (No Added Fat)

I fed my daughter a little earlier, so made dinner tonight just for my Dad, visting for a few weeks, wife, and myself. I thought that I would make a baked potato in my electronic pressure cooker to accompany a vegetable sauté.










Ingredients

• 12 large Brussels sprouts, cut into thirds lengthwise
• 1 baby leek, darkest green portions and very bottom removed, then cut into 3/8" slices
• 1/4 cup plus 2T onion cut into 3/8" cubes
• Jalapeno or other hot pepper to taste - I used about a teaspoon of 1/4" sliced jalapeno
• 3T tomato paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 vegan bouillon cube
• 1T chopped (to 3/8" size or so) ginger
• (optional) 2T chopped (to 1/4" or so cubes) fennel root
• (optional) 2T chopped (to about 1/2" pieces) cilantro
• 1/2 t salt (or to taste) and 1/4t dried oregano

Process

1. Saute leek and sprouts in a sauté pan with no added oil or other liquids for about 5m till sprouts start showing some brownness
2. Add the 1/4 cup of onion and jalapeno, and sauté for another 2m
3. There will likely be a little bit of sticking; add the tomato paste and stir, cleaning the pan
4. After a half minute or so once the pan has been cleaned, add the water and bouillon cube and increase heat to bring to a boil
5. Reduce heat to simmer and add ginger and fennel
6. Cook for about 4m more till the Brussels sprouts are soft
7. Add the remaining 2T onion and the cilantro, stir, and turn the heat off
8. Mix in the salt and oregano, and serve

I also made baked potatoes. I followed the same recipe that I did on May 21 for baked potatoes, but increased the cook time to 17m to ensure soft potatoes for my Dad. For fun, I thought I'd take a medium Vidalia onion, remove the skin and very top and bottom, and put it atop the potatoes for the cooking, as well, wondering if the onion would roast and partially liquefy. I also flame roasted three small ears of organic corn, stripped the kernels, and served with a bit of salt and lime juice.

Results

Dinner was good! The Brussels sprouts came out well and I think were reasonably seasoned. The potato was probably the softest potato I've had; it was great for my Dad and fine for my wife and me, though I'd prefer a minute or two shorter cook time if not cooking for my Dad. The onions indeed came out soft and mild, like roasted onions. I simply chopped them up and served them on the potato. How could the corn not be good?!

Ideas for the future

I am so happy that I tried this onion experiment. I'd like to use onion in this way in the future, and perhaps combine it with the "nacho cheese" sauce that I described on April 22.