One of our best memories from this past weekend is seeing a group of swans on the lake (which is officially called a bevy of swans – who would have thought! I’ve never seen more than five in one spot…). Diving for food with almost eerie synchronicity, water pearling off their necks when they came up, and taking flight with pretty large wingspans. Awesome.
What they are eating at the bottom of ponds doesn’t look so delicious to us, but the subdued hues of brownish green made me think of brussels sprouts and purple potatoes. To add a little color and liven up the earthy tastes I combined these ingredients with carrots and plantains for a veggie feast for the eyes as well as the tastebuds 🙂
Ilian’s main participation was finding a small green worm inside a brussels sprouts and watching the little critter crawling back inside. We let it have its sprout.
Brussels Sprouts and Purple Potatoes with Carrots and Plantains
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups brussels sprouts, cleaned, cut into halves or quarters if they are big
- 2 lb purple potatoes
- a few carrots, shredded
- 2 ripe plantains (look for yellow ones with black spots in the store), peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds or ovals
- 2 tsp dried rosemary
- 2 tsp salt
- canola oil
Directions
- Scrub the purple potatoes well and cut into small wedges (no need to peel). Mix with 2 TBsp canola oil, salt and rosemary in baking dish, spread out evenly. Bake at 400F for 45 minutes or until soft.
- Meanwhile, steam brussels sprouts for about 15 minutes or until soft all the way through.
- Fry the plantains:Â Heat up 4 TBsp canola oil over medium heat in a pan (preferably non-stick) and fry plantains for 1 1/2 minute on one side, flip over, fry 1 1/2 minute on other side. Remove from pan and place between paper towels.
- Plate the fried plantains first, top with shredded carrots, add potatoes and brussels sprouts. Enjoy with your eyes first!
