Insanely Tasty I-can't-believe-I-ate-the-whole-pan Spicy Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Just a slight exaggeration! I made a batch of these and they were sitting on the counter while I made the rest of dinner. I kept going back and eating them, sprout by sprout! Such tasty little morsels!

While scouting the internet for similar recipes, I was dismayed by the amount of butter and oil folks were sauteing the sprouts in. I'm talking 1/4 cup and more. Not for us! This recipe uses a measly 2 tsp. of olive oil and a bit of spray on the pan.

Ingredients
3/4 pound Brussels sprouts, cleaned with bottom cut off
2 tsp. olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste
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1 TB brown sugar
1 TB balsamic vinegar

Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Make Brussels sprouts a consistent size. If they are small, leave them whole. Larger sprouts, either cut on half or in quarters. Put Brussels sprouts in medium bowl. Add oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper. Mix well and place on baking pan that has been lightly spritzed with oil. Bake for about 20-22 minutes.

While the sprouts are baking mix the sugar and vinegar in the original bowl. Set aside.

Stir and check to make sure they're not getting too done. You want the sprouts to be browned and crisp-tender but not overdone. Depending on how they're coming along cook for 5-8 minutes more. When just tender, put in bowl with sugar and vinegar, mix and serve.

Serves 4 (or 1 if you can't control yourself!)

Better-For-You Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes with Homemade Strawberry Syrup

There is no photo because I gobbled these up before I remembered to take one! Serve with your favorite topping or make your own fruit syrup. Strawberry syrup recipe below.

Ingredients
2/3 cup + 1 TB non-dairy milk of your choice
1 TB lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
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2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
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1/2 tsp vanilla extract
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1/4 cup peeled, chopped apple

Directions
Mix milk and lemon together and let sit while you mix all of the other ingredients in another small bowl. Add vanilla to liquid ingredients, mix and add to dry ingredients. Mix well. Heat a skillet and lightly oil it; add 1/3 cup pancake mixture for each pancake. Dot each pancake with 1 TB chopped apple. Cook until a few bubbles form on top and bottom is browned; flip and cook other side. Serve hot with homemade strawberry syrup or whatever turns you on.

Strawberry Syrup
10 oz. frozen strawberries
2 TB agave syrup (or to taste)
1 TB lemon juice

Put all of the ingredients into blender (VitaMix if you're lucky enough to have one) and blend until completely smooth. If you are using a VitaMix, blend until warmed up which will take several minutes. I usually just take it out while it's blended but still frozen and heat it on the stove.

This recipe also makes a delicious sorbet if you're using a VitaMix; just stop blending before it heats up in the container.

Garlicky Brussels Sprouts

This is from Vegetarian Times. It's very tasty and not as garlicky as one might think. If a whole pound of Brussels sprouts is too much for you to deal with, the recipe halves nicely. Since I just bought a huge bag of Brussels sprouts at Costco, expect more Brussels sprout recipes!

Ingredients
1 lb. Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed
2 Tbs. olive oil
12 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

Directions
Place Brussels sprouts in bowl of food processor. Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until shredded. A few of my sprouts did not get shredded so I did them by hand so the rest wouldn't get pulverized.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic, and cook until light brown. Increase heat to medium-high, and add shredded brussel sprouts, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Cook several minutes, or until browned, stirring often. Add 1-1/2 cups water, and cook several more minutes or until most of liquid is evaporated. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Leave crisp-tender. Stir in vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Vegan Mini-Brownies Baked in Silicone Pinch Bowls

I received a set of silicone pinch bowls for Christmas. They're super handy for measuring out ingredients when you're cooking. The bowls are freezer save, microwaveable, AND oven safe to 500 degrees. Got me thinking that I wanted to bake something in them. Mini-Brownies here we come! This recipe is actually from the Happy Herbivore website. It's the Single Serving Brownie. I made the batter and split it up into three of the bowls. The resulting mini-brownie is the perfect size for when you just got to have a bit of chocolate. It's a bit sweet so you may want to cut back on the sugar. One other thing: Use 1 TABLESPOON soy milk (not 1 teaspoon). Recipe works better that way! (WeightWatcher 2.5 PointsPlus per mini-brownie.)

Here's the link: http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/single-serving-vegan-brownie/

mini pinch bowls with 1/4 cup capacity

Chickpea-Artichoke Bites with Rosemary Aioli

A very tasty low fat appetizer from VeganPlanet. This has all my favorite ingredients: chickpeas, artichokes and even potatoes. The ONLY thing I substituted was to make my own vegan mayonnaise because I don't care for Follow Your Heart Veganaise mayonnaise - it just tastes "funny" to me. The vegan mayonnaise recipe is the next entry for those who are interested. Here is a link to these tasty little morsels:

http://veganplanet.blogspot.com/2010/12/chickpea-artichoke-bites-with-rosemary.htm

Vegan Mayonnaise

This is very quick and easy to make. I like it better than the commercial brands of vegan mayonnaise – although I am thankful for all commercial vegan products! This mayo also has the advantage of being very low calorie.

Ingredients
12-ounce package of Mori-Nu Soft Silken Tofu
2 TB apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 TB Dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp ground cayenne

Directions
Process in small blender until smooth. Refrigerate in container with tight fitting lid. Keeps for about 5 days. (The whole recipe is about 1-1/2 cups and is only 4 WeightWatcher PointsPlus!)