Tag Archives: Cooking

I’ve mentioned this in the past but I’m going to take a moment to emphasize how important simple, yet delicious, cooking is to me. Thus, today I’m going to share with you my new favorite hippie dinner: baked and broiled brussels sprouts, sweet potato fries and brown rice. Here are the super simple steps to hippie dinner perfection.

The ingredients are so simple, I don’t even need to vertically list them out! Just brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes (not yams!), brown rice, olive oil, nutmeg and some S&P.

Let’s start with the sweet potato fries. For some reason I blanked this time around and didn’t peel the sweet potatoes. But for you folks, I definitely recommend peeling those babies.

I don’t have a fancy tool for this, so I literally just put my horrible knife skills to work. Choppy, choppy, choppy. Those look like fries, right?

Spread out your fries on their own baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. The secret ingredient here is to sprinkle some nutmeg on them. But be careful! Too much and it will overpower your fries.

Let’s talk brussels sprouts. First thing first, blanching and shocking the sprouts is KEY to making them edible (yes, that does sound like a military term…BLANCH AND SHOCK BOYS!). Bring a pot of water to a boil and then dump the whole sprouts in and let them boil for two to four minutes (or until they are tender). After boiling, transfer the sprouts to an ice bath. I get lazy and just drench them in cold water which works fine as well. This blanch and shock technique cooks the sprouts on the inside, and the cold water “shocks” the veggie and prevents it from cooking any further. Mushy sprouts are never a good thing.

Once you’ve blanched and shocked, halve each sprout and spread them out on a baking sheet of their own. Toss with olive oil and S&P.

So here’s where I get extra lazy: I pop both sheets of veggies into an oven than has been preheated to 450 degrees. Because you have two sheets in at once and one is closer to the heat than the other, you need to pay special attention to ensure that you are flipping the veggies and ensuring they don’t burn. I’ll usually set a timer for 10 minutes and will rotate the trays within the oven, for a total cooking time of about 20 minutes. After those 20 minutes, I’ll switch the over to a broil on high to get that extra crispy top layer. Watch these carefully as they should take no longer than five minutes and broiling can burn your hippie dinner pretty quickly.

Add some brown rice and like that, you’ll have a delicious little hippie dinner that will make your stomach smile and your body will thank you later.

Happy Running!

P.S. Did you know that it’s actually “brussels sprouts” and not “brussel sprouts” (the extra “s”). Who knew?!

Psst. I have a secret. I have zero time to cook and my meals usually consist of copious amounts of pasta.

If and when I do get around to actually cooking, the recipes have to be super simple, delicious and void of any fancy-shmancy ingredients. So when I posted photos of the mini lemon meringue pies and banana bread, I should have been knocked upside the head for not sharing the recipe with you. So without further ado, the easiest mini lemon meringue pies and banana bread you’ve ever made. (Warning these recipes are not necessarily “healthy,” but they are pretty damn tasty.)

“Too Many Race Bananas Leftover Banana Bread”

Ingredients

• 3 extra ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix the smooshed bananas with the melted butter. Then, stir in the sugar, egg, and vanilla, followed by the baking soda and salt. Finally, add the  flour and mix to a banana bread batter of goodness. Last step? Pour the batter into a sprayed, regular bread loaf pan and bake for an hour. Seriously, that’s it. One side note: I like to taste little chunks of banana in my bread, so I left the smooshed bananas a little chunky. It’s also better served after a night in the refrigerator.

“The, You Look Like You Know What Your Doing, Mini Lemon Meringue Pies”

Ingredients

• 1 box of lemon Jello pudding YES, YOU HEARD ME RIGHT. JELLO.
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 cup water
• 3 egg yolks
• 6 mini, pre-made graham cracker pie crusts
• 3 egg white
• 6 tablespoons sugars

Directions

First up, you make the pie filling with the Jello pudding. Deal with it. Simply combine the pie filling mix, the 2/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan on medium heat. Then, blend in egg yolks and the remaining water, continuously stirring until it comes to a full boil. Once it’s a bubbly goodness, remove from heat and let it cool for five minutes.

Next is the meringue. I’ve never made meringue before so this was a bit interesting for me. But the good news is that it’s easy – it just takes some time. Patience, little one. Simply beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Once you have the foam, gradually add the sugar until it starts forming stiff peaks.

And finally, add the meringue to the pies! How do you get it all swirly without any fancy tools? I just took a large plastic bag, cut off a small part of the corner and put the meringue in it. Then just squeeze and swirl. To finish your masterpiece, align the pies on a basking sheet and put them in the oven at 425 for 5-10 minutes, just until the meringue starts to brow. Wow – now you look faaaancy!

Happy Baking and Running!