Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Golden Beet with Spinach and Tempeh, Spicy Tomato Salad (No Added Fat)

Brussels Sprouts were on sale at the cooperative grocery store today, so I decided to try roasting them similarly to what I did for the Valentine's Day dinner. I also included a golden beet, cut into 3/8" cubes. At 450°F, I oven roasted the beet with onion for about 30 minutes and the Brussels Sprouts with onion for about 15 minutes. I did not broil, but removed from the oven; the beet looked and tasted good, so I just sautéed on cast iron the Brussels Sprouts and onion, along with (for my wife and me) tempeh, bell pepper, more onion, and chopped spinach. I added a bit of salt and garlic powder when I served. For my daughter, who doesn't like spinach or tempeh, I left out the spinach and used tofu instead of tempeh.

I also made a tasty tomato salad. I gave my daughter some tasty organic grape tomatoes that we also bought today. For my wife and me, I halved tomatoes, and mixed in chopped green chili pepper, ume plum vinegar, Indian black salt (kala namak), and freshly ground black pepper. I served brown rice, as well.

Results

Dinner was good but the main course wasn't as flavorful as the Valentine's Day one. I thought that the tempeh didn't work as well with this dish as the tofu. I cooked oil-free, as I almost always do; a crispier tempeh may have been better.

Ideas for the future

I am so glad that it's so easy to get roasted and crispy Brussels sprouts without oil, but I should season with more spices like turmeric, lemon pepper (which I'm out of right now), and/or ground cumin, and with other ingredients like garlic or, like I did on Valentine's Day, tomato. I should experiment with it more, perhaps mixing the cooked sprouts into mashed sweet potato. Roasting other vegetable combinations would also be good.