There are a few times, however, where adding random ingredients, especially vegetables that give off water when they cook, results in a (temporary) culinary misstep. But not to worry – in our opinion, if it still tastes good, we just eat it anyway!

Here’s an amazing recipe that was link off of another CrossFit recipe blog ( I’m still searching for the recipe’s original author…I WILL find it and link here!).

Cook about 4-5 slices of bacon on the stove top.

While that’s cooking, mix together an avocado, 1/4 white onion, paprika, chili powder and some fresh lime, if you have it. Mix together until it looks like guacamole. Feel free to add a tomato in there.

This is the part where I derailed.

Mix together 4 cans of tuna, about 1/4 cup of almond meal, the chopped up cooked bacon, some white or red onion, and the leftover bacon fat. Also sprinkle liberally with garlic powder and paprika.

I went ahead and added broccoli and red peppers here as well.

Now, it becomes a “choose your own adventure”. Will you stick with the original recipe, which yields yummy looking tuna burgers? Or add in some more veggies ( doesn’t have to be broccoli and peppers – just use whatever you have)?

Still looking good

Total meltdown

Mix all of the ingredients ( minus the avocado spread) together in a bowl, form patties, and cook the patties, just for about 2 min on each side, or until warmed all the way through.

Even though the patties fell apart in the pan, the meal came out amazing!

Try it for yourself, and alter the recipe, or not 

Fry up a few pieces of bacon ( about 4 slices). If you choose to omit the bacon altogether in this recipe – no problem  – its still delicious without it. But, as you know, the Golden Rules says, “Eat your bacon at every meal”.  Or something like that.

Saute about 1/4 white onion (cut into strips) and 4-5 cloves of garlic (thinly sliced) in 1T of butter. Once the onion turns translucent, add about 1 cup of dry white wine and add 1lb of mussels to the pan. We found these pre-steamed ones for $5/lb at Whole Foods.

Cook the mussels for about 5 minutes or so and sprinkle with a little black pepper and garnish with fresh parsley, or sprinkle on some italian seasonsings to taste. Add the bacon and remove the pan from the heat. Pour the ingredients into a bowl. Enjoy with friends!

Kohlrabi is a root vegetable. It looks like a bunch of beets, and tastes like something in between a turnip and a potato. Our member, Beth, asked if I had ever made it before, and I admitted that I had never even HEARD of it before! It’s available at the Wegmans up on Route 38, but I have yet to find it at the one on Route 70.

After finding it at the store,  and not really knowing what it would taste like, I was decided to turn it into a side dish that involved a little more  than just boiling and seasoning the pieces, which is what we would normally do to sweet potatoes, turnips or parsnips. Instead, we decided to turn it into a hash. This is what we did:

Remove the kohlrabi from it’s leaves and remove the outer layer of skin with a vegetable peeler.

Chop each bulb into small sugar cube-sized squares (no need to be exact with the cuts) and drop them into a pot of boiling water for about 15-20 minutes.

While that’s cooking, cook two strips of (nitrite and nitrate free) bacon on the stove in a frying pan. Turn as needed, and drain out some of the bacon fat ( but save it!) so it gets nice a crispy in the end.

Meanwhile, dice about 1/4 of two different types of pepper and 1/4 of a red onion. For this dish, we used a small organic pimento pepper, and part of a ‘purple beauty’ pepper, both of which we got from the Haddonfield Farmer’s Market.

After the bacon is done, pour all of the bacon fat into a large saute pan, and start to cook the onions and peppers.

By now, the Kohlrabi should be just about done. Drain and add that to the saute pan.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add a few (or many) shakes of Frank’s Red Hot, or your hot sauce of preference.

Add in the bacon, just as the onions and peppers get soft.

Serve and eat for breakfast or dinner!

Collard Greens with Portobello Mushroom, Red Onion and Mustard

Cut off the stems of the collard greens, and cut out the stem from the middle, leaving just the leafy parts. Stack those up in a pile and chop them into squares. Rinse and slice a portobello mushroom into long (1/4 inch to a 1/2 inch thick) slices. Slice 1/4 of a red onion into long slices.

Put the portobello mushrooms and onions into a deep pot with enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Cook on low to medium heat, covered for 3-4 minutes, then uncovered, until the mushrooms turn a darker shade of tan and the onions start to get soft. Add salt, pepper and a grainy mustard. We used a fig mustard that we bought in France, but any grainy mustard will do.

Add a few tablespoons of water to the pan ( if the collard leaves are still damp from rinsing them, then don’t add the water) and add the collard greens. Use tongs or a big spoon to toss the leaves around so they are coated with oil. Cook on medium heat, covered, for about 6-8 minutes, or until the greens look wilted and darker green. Stir every 2 minutes.

Collard Greens with Bacon, Cayenne Pepper, and Apple Cider Vinegar

Rinse, remove stems, and chop collards as described in the first recipe. Chop 1/2 of a white onion. While you’re doing that, cook slice three strips of thick bacon ( we use a nitrite and nitrate free Applewood Smoked Bacon from Trader Joe’s), cut into 3 pieces each, over low heat in a deep saucepan. When the bacon is 3/4 of the way done, add the white onion.

Slice 3-4 cloves of garlic into thin strips and add to the pot. When they begin to turn translucent, add 3 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, 2 Tablespoons of cayenne pepper, a little bit of salt, and black pepper. Mix with a large spoon.

Add the collards, stir them with the liquid from the pot, cover and cook on low to medium for 10 minutes. They are shown below with delicious pulled pork and sweet potatoes. A Southern meal in a Jersey house. How about that.

As delicious as they are, Brussels sprouts have gotten a serious bad rap over the years. Images of little kids pushing them to the side of their plate, and the memory of a horrible sulfurous odor when they were being (over)cooked, may even have YOU thinking that you don’t like them! But you’re in luck, because they’re so much better than you remember!

Brussels sprouts do look like small cabbages, but their texture is dense and soft, and their flavor is almost buttery. They are a deliciously filling side dish, perfectly suited for a post-workout meal. And if they aren’t overcooked, they don’t smell bad or weird at all. If you haven’t tried Brussels sprouts in a while, or if you’ve never cooked them yourself, its about time to step out of your comfort zone, and just DO IT!

Brussels Sprouts, in their natural form

In a large pot on the stove , boil about 3 or 4 cups of water, or about 1/2 container of No Salt Added chicken broth and a cup of water. While that is coming to a boil, chop off the extended ends of about 20 Brussels sprouts so that they are each oval shaped. Rinse and then plop them into the boiling water or broth. Lower to low heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook 3 or 4 strips of bacon, cook until crispy, then break into smaller pieces once they are cooled. Got some mushrooms in the fridge? Slice and cook them in the bacon fat.

Once the Brussels sprouts are soft and the mushrooms are done, drain the water from the Brussels sprouts pot. Pour the mushrooms and remaining bacon fat into the pot, and sprinkle the bacon pieces on top.

Close your eyes, erase all of your bad memories of this misunderstood vegetable, and enjoy!

Shown here with ribeye and a side salad. Yum!

]]> http://crossfitaspire.com/2010/06/for-the-love-of-food-in-defense-of-brussels-sprouts/feed/ 2 http://crossfitaspire.com/2010/06/for-the-love-of-food-shrimp-bacon-kale-and-sweet-potatoes/ http://crossfitaspire.com/2010/06/for-the-love-of-food-shrimp-bacon-kale-and-sweet-potatoes/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:53:35 +0000 Alycia http://crossfitaspire.com/?p=161 YES! This  recipe contains the magical ingredient – Bacon.

Would you think anything less of us for our first recipe on the website? 

Peel and cube a few sweet potatoes (figure you’ll need about 1/4 to 1/2 per person tonight, and save the rest for tomorrow as a snack). Stick them into a pot of boiling water for 20 min. Meanwhile…

Cook 2 thick strips of  nitrite and nitrate free bacon (we got ours at Whole Foods)  in a frying pan until crispy. Halfway through the cooking, pour some of the bacon grease out into the pan that you’ll cook the kale in later. You’ll be happy you did that.

Chop up some broccoli into really small florets and steam on the stove  for just a few minutes.  While those are steaming, cut a bunch of kale into squares ( remove the thick stems) and rinse. Add the broccoli and kale to the pan with that leftover bacon grease. Add the kale in small portions to make sure it all gets coated with the grease.

Once the bacon is just about done, put the peeled and rinsed shrimp into that pan to soak up the bacony goodness, and to cook briefly ( 1-3  min on each side).

Once all of the kale is coated and cooking ( about 5 min after all of the kale is in the pan),  then grind some pepper on it and add some raisins, if you’re so inclined. It’s up to you.

Drain the sweet potatoes and sprinkle with cinnamon.

DINNER IS SERVED

*There’s another side dish of green beans shown here. Those are leftovers from another night. We’ll save that recipe for another day.