Brussels Sprouts Gratin

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw my announcement a few weeks back that I'm now an Affiliate for BreadSRSLY!! Y'all know how much I love their gluten free sourdough. It's frequently featured in my daily meals (like this, or this, DEFINITELY this or that) and in past recipes like my Parmesan Garlic Croutons, Mom's Caesar Salad and this Ham, Leek & Sourdough Dressing. I can't wait to start dreaming up even MORE delicious ways to enjoy this bread. First up: this creamy, crunchy Brussels Sprouts Gratin!

I actually first made this back in December for my 30th birthday weekend trip to Sonoma. I made this up as I went that weekend and after tasting the result, I knew it was only fair to you to recreate the recipe (and this time take notes). 

 'Gratin' is a French technique that simply means a dish with a browned crust of breadcrumbs. You know what makes a breadcrumb topping even better? Bacon. That's the start of this magical dish. 

The brussels sprouts are first roasted and then tossed in a bechamel sauce. Keeping with French techniques (they sure know what they are talking about), a bechamel is simply a white sauce made from a roux and milk. Don't let the fancy French words scare you! Roux = butter and flour. I'll break it down for you in the recipe, don't you worry.

To bring it all together the brussels tossed in the bechamel go into a baking dish and then are topped with breadcrumbs and bacon. Is your mouth watering yet? After a quick pop in the oven this side dish is ready to enjoy!  

Would you like to give BreadSRSLY a try? Use the code 'myengineerednutrition' with your order on their website and receive 10% off your order! 

Brussels Sprouts Gratin

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 25 min

Servings: 6

Ingredients: 

Bechamel:

• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp gluten free flour, Bob's 1-to-1
• 1 c reduced fat milk, 2%
• Salt & Pepper

Gratin:

• 6 oz BreadSRSLY sourdough bread, 3 slices toast
• 6 cups brussels sprouts, cut into quarters 
• 2 tsp olive oil, divided
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 slices bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. While the oven is preheating, toast your bread and prepare brussels sprouts by cutting them into quarters. Toss sprouts with 1 tsp olive oil, juice of one lemon and salt. Roast on a baking sheet in the oven for 10-15 minutes, giving them a toss halfway through roasting. This will give the sprouts a nice roast, but won't cook them all the way through.
2. While the brussels are roasting, put the toasted bread into a food processor and pulse until breadcrumbs form. I personally like my breadcrumbs on the larger side, but you can go as large or small as you choose. On a different baking sheet, spread the breadcrumbs out in an even layer and toast in the oven (at the same time as the sprouts is fine) for about 5 minutes, just so they become a bit more dried out. 
3. Remove breadcrumbs and brussels sprouts from the oven and set the aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
4. Cook 3 slices of bacon until crisp. I fried my bacon in a skillet on stove top, but you can also do this step in the microwave. Blot with paper towels to remove excess grease and chop into smaller pieces. Combine breadcrumbs, bacon and remaining 1 tsp of olive oil in a bowl and toss.
5. Next we make the béchamel! Warm your milk in a small sauce pan over medium high heat. While that is warming, in a sauté pan or a separate sauce pan (something with taller sides so that the sauce doesn't slop all over your stove!) melt the butter over medium high heat. Once melted add the flour, salt and pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste begins to bubble. We want the butter+flour mixture to become a golden color, which will happen after about 2-4 minutes of cooking, but we don't want to let this burn. Pour in warmed milk and continue to stir the sauce. Raise to high heat and bring sauce to a boil. Lower heat and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes while stirring. 
6. In a large bowl combine roasted brussels sprouts and béchamel sauce. Toss so that the sprouts are evenly coated. Transfer into baking dish and top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. To finish the gratin, raise heat and broil for 5 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information (1 serving):

180 calories - 6.5 g Protein, 24 g Carbohydrates, 7.5 g Fat

Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Yum

Fall is in full swing! My favorite seasons for cooking? Fall and winter. I love roasting and warm, slow cooked meals. I love the rich flavors and fragrant spices that fill your house as you are cooking. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Cliche as it may be, I LOVE fall.

One of my ultimate Fall favorite side dishes? Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts. 

Now, this certainly isn't a dish you can only eat in the fall and winter months, but it sure does hit the spot on evenings when the air is cool and crisp. This is a quick and simple side dish and honestly, what can be better than Brussels sprouts and bacon?  

Bacon Roasted Brussels Sprouts  

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 cups Brussels sprouts
• 3 slices of bacon
• 1 tbsp shallots, minced  
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, minced   
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare Brussels sprouts by cutting off their bottoms (discard) and slicing in half. For the extra large sprouts I usually cut these into quarters to assure they cook evenly. Transfer cut sprouts to large mixing bowl. Toss with shallots, thyme, salt and pepper.
2. In a large skillet, fry bacon until crispy. I've found the best way to do this (without burning your bacon) is to begin by arranging your bacon in the skillet prior to turning on heat. Place skillet over medium-high heat and cook bacon until crispy, ensuring to flip bacon halfway through. This should take about 5 minutes.
3. Once your bacon has cooked, removed slices and place on a paper towel lined plate. Set aside. Next, CAREFULLY pour rendered bacon grease over sprouts and toss to evenly coat.  
4. Transfer sprouts to a baking sheet, spreading them out into a single even layer. Roast in 400°F oven for 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Halfway through roasting, give the sprouts a toss on the baking sheet so that you have even browning on all sides.  
5. While roasting, chop the bacon into small pieces - real deal bacon bits! Once sprouts have roasted, sprinkle bacon on top and serve. 

Nutritional Information (1 serving)

130 calories - 5 g Protein, 8 g Carbs, 8.7 g Fat, 3.3 g Fiber

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Meatloaf

Yum

Today I bring to you a comfort food classic: meatloaf. This isn't just any regular meatloaf, however. It is wrapped in bacon and coated in BBQ sauce. Traditionally, meatloaf is made with full fat ground beef, whole eggs and bread crumbs. I've lightened this dish up AND added bacon, all while keeping the total fat lower than the original recipe but not skimping on any of the flavor. You're welcome.

My favorite way to develop recipes is to ask my family and friends what they feel like eating...and then I will create that with my own twist. That is exactly how this recipe came about. This is my idea of a fun game! I was staying with my sister, Greta, in LA last weekend and to show my thanks I offered to cook dinner for us. I asked her to think of something (anything!) that is normally unhealthy (but delicious) and I would make her a healthy version. Some may not agree with my idea of fun, but hey - we all have our thing. 

She requested "comfort food" which for me means a rich, meat and potatoes type dish. I offered up meatloaf (which she gladly agreed to) and then decided to one up myself and make it (turkey) bacon wrapped meatloaf brushed with BBQ sauce instead of boring ol' ketchup. And to top it all off - make it lighter and gluten free. I came up with this recipe on the fly as I was chopping and mixing. The end result was better than I could have ever imagined. Lucky for you all I remembered to write the recipe down in my iPhone immediately following dinner. 

So what makes this "lighter"? I used 93% lean ground beef instead of 80/20 ground beef, turkey bacon instead of regular bacon, egg whites instead of whole eggs and coconut flour as the binder instead of bread crumbs. The end result was juicy and moist but definitely tasted rich and full of comfort. 

Thanks to Greta for requesting this meal or I may never thought of this recipe :) Enjoy! 

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Meatloaf

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes (30 minutes at 400F and 20 minutes at 350F)

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef or bison (if you want to make this extra lean use 93/7 ground beef!)
• 5 strips turkey bacon
• 2 egg whites
• 4 tbsp coconut flour
• 1/4 c yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 c green bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 4 tbsp BBQ sauce, divided 
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 4000F. 
2. In a skillet over medium high heat, sauté onion, peppers and garlic in olive oil for 3-5 minutes or until onions become golden brown. Remove mixture from heat to a small bowl to cool. 
3. In a mixing bowl combine  the onion and pepper mixture with the ground beef, egg whites, coconut flour, worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp of BBQ sauce plus salt and pepper to season. Using your hands, mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. 
4. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and form into a loaf. Wrap with strips of turkey bacon so that meatloaf is fully covered. 
5. Place meatloaf into oven and allow to cook at 400F for 10 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, brush the meatloaf with the remaining 2 tbsp of BBQ sauce and return to oven for an additional 20 minutes at 4000F. 
6. After 30 minutes total at 400F, reduce oven temperature to 350F and continue to cook for another 20-30 minutes or until meatloaf is cooked through.
7. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting. Slice into 4 equal pieces and serve with additional BBQ sauce if desired. 

Nutritional info (1 serving = 1/4 of recipe)

310 Calories - 33.5 g Protein, 10 g Carbs, 15 g Fat