Sunday, October 16, 2011

Salad of Brussels Sprouts, Green Beans & Queso Fresco

I came up with this recipe out of happenstance.  I was ready for lunch and planned to make a simple salad, and when I went to the frige, I realized I was out of lettuce.  But, I had extra Brussels and thought - "that's just as good as lettuce."  So I put together a salad of sauteed, shaved Brussels, green beans and queso fresco.  Queso fresco is a crumbly, slighlty tangy and creamy Mexican, fresh cheese.
Gundry doesn't specifically address queso fresco in his book, but does list several fresh cheeses that can stand in as proteins.  Serving sizes listed for these fresh cheeses vary from 1/2 cup (feta, mozzarella) to 1 cup (ricotta, cottage, farmer).  So, with this recipe, I erred on the safe side and used only a half cup of queso fresco.
The whole idea of shaved Brussels sprouts comes from one of Dr. Gundry's recipes - Brussel Sprouts You'll Eat on page 257 of his book.  You can check out my blog post on this recipe here or another favorite Brussels recipe here.


INGREDIENTS
2-1/2 cups Brussels sprouts, shaved*
3/4 cups green beans, chopped into 1" to 2" pieces
1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
These are the proportions I used when I prepared lunch for myself.  You can obviously vary the proportions based on your preferences or if you're preparing the dish for more than one person.  This recipe would also work well as a side dish.
*Get the perfect shaved Brussels sprouts by sending them through a food processor fitted with the slicing blade.

DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add shaved Brussels sprouts.  Sprinkle with salt.  Saute, approximately 7 minutes, until browned.
I used already cooked, leftover green beans for my lunch, so I threw them in near the end, just to heat through.
If using raw green beans, add to the skillet at the same time as the Brussels sprouts.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and add cheese.  Stir to combine.
Enjoy this simple and delicious combination!

Dr. Gundry notes that in Phase 3, you can try his Brussels recipe raw.  So, if you prefer, you can forego sauteing the veggies or saute as little or as much as you'd like.

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