We decided on using a red curry paste, which is made of large red chili peppers and generally packs less heat than green curry, which uses young green chili peppers. The resulting taste offers a delicate curry flavor with a spicy-but-not-too-spicy finish.

Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: about 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons red curry paste
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente, about 8 minutes. Arrange in an even layer in a 1-quart casserole dish. Set aside.

3. While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour until smooth and light golden brown. Make sure it’s free of lumps. Slowly whisk in the milk, cream and curry paste. Add the onion. Simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over the macaroni. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

I’m on the right. And we cheated; we took the B.C. to go and ate messily at home.

The thing to order? A pound (or two or three) of shrimp in the Whole Shebang sauce. It comes in a heavy duty plastic bag, the shrimp swimming around in the buttery, flavor-filled, sometimes spicy sauce. Bite off the head, suck out all the yummy brain juices, then eat the shrimp, shell on and all. Maybe ask for an ear of corn in the bag. And get a side of Cajun fries. Oh, and white rice. (And you know what else is really good there? The chicken wings.) Amazing.

I’ve been trying to replicate this Whole Shebang sauce for awhile now, to little success. I’ve even come up with a non-saucy version of Cajun shrimp but the only thing in common it has with The Boiling Crab’s shrimp is its cuisine type.

I came across this Chow recipe yesterday and it just… felt right. Well, mostly right. I made a few changes (like nixing red jalapeños and instead adding cayenne pepper and onion powder) and it tasted verrrry similar to The Boiling Crab’s. The best part? It’s easy. Really. It roasts in the oven in less than 10 minutes.

Serves: 4 entrees (or 6 appetizers)
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 8 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pound large shrimp, head and shells on
1-1/4 cup water
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Juice of 1 lemon
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 cup shrimp stock (recipe in Step 1)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1. Make a quick shrimp stock: Remove the shrimp heads and transfer to a 2-quart saucepan. Pour the water over the shrimp heads and bring to a low boil, then reduce to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Strain and discard heads. Transfer the shrimp (shell on) to a large mixing bowl or casserole dish and set aside. (Pro tip: While the stock is simmering, complete Step 2.)

2. Marinate the shrimp: In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper (if using). Pour over the reserved shrimp and let marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to its maximum temperature (usually 450-500 degrees) and arrange rack near the top. Place a roasting pan or deep baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes so it gets hot.

4. Working quickly and using tongs, arrange the marinated shrimp in a single layer on the hot pan or baking sheet. Discard the marinade. Roast the shrimp until bright pink and some of the shells lightly brown, about 7-8 minutes.

5. Remove the shrimp from the oven and immediately pour the stock over them while still on the baking sheet. Finish with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and butter. Stir gently to coat. Serve with rice or French bread and enjoy!

To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what the difference is between flatbread and pizza. I Googled it and came up with surprisingly few results; a discussion on Serious Eats came up but it seems there’s no definitive answer.

What’s my definition? When I think of pizza, I think of a gooey, saucy doughy slice. When I think of flatbread, I think of something more thin-crust, little to no sauce and with uncooked ingredients on top. So let’s go with that definition. What do you think is the difference between flatbread and pizza? 

Anyway, this recipe is salty and fresh, filling and light. Balsamic reduction makes for a rich, tart mouthfeel, garlic adds a hint of spice, and the salty bite of the prosciutto and Parmesan is balanced with the freshness of the arugula. Buy an extra ounce of Prosciutto at the grocery and munch on it as you’re waiting for your flatbread to finish in the oven!

For this recipe, my favorite kind of prosciutto is Creminelli’s Prosciutto Crudo from Whole Foods but you can use any kind of prosciutto that’s freshly sliced from your local deli/grocery.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
16 ounces pizza dough (I like Trader Joe’s Plain Pizza Dough)
All-purpose flour (for rolling dough)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1-1/2 cups arugula
4 ounces prosciutto (fresh from the deli!)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Pour the balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan over medium heat. Reduce by half, about 5-7 minutes. The consistency should be thick but pourable, like a creamy salad dressing.

3. Meanwhile, working on a clean surface (like a marble countertop), dust some all-purpose flour where you plan to roll your pizza dough. Roll the dough out as thinly as you can, hopefully a bit thinner than 1/4″. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

4. Spread the olive oil over the surface of the pizza dough. Pour over the reduced balsamic vinegar. Add minced garlic and Parmesan cheese. Bake until the garlic looks light golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.

5. Top with a single layer of arugula. Drape prosciutto slices on top. Serve immediately.

“It actually isn’t smoked. It’s cured in salt,” I invited myself to the conversation, sounding about as obnoxious as you would imagine. Fortunately, no one rolled their eyes at me.

——————————————————————

Some fun facts: Lox (or gravlax or gravlox) is a Nordic dish of fish cured in salt, sugar and dill. The rest of the ingredients — maybe it’s citrus slices, tequila or vodka — will vary with each recipe. During the Middle Ages, it was made by fisherman, who buried it in the sand to ferment it. Specifically, “gravlax” is Scandinavian for “buried salmon”.

Since this delicious dish is salt cured it’s really easy to make. Really. You’d be surprised. You’ll need to do this a day and a half prior to serving, but it pretty much just needs to sit in the refrigerator.

The hardest part is slicing it. Make sure you have a really sharp knife!

Serves: 8
Prep time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
For the gravlax:
1 pound salmon filet, sliced in half lengthwise
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoons white pepper
1/2 package fresh dill (or about 8 sprigs), minced
2 tablespoons vodka

For serving:
1 package of bagels (I prefer plain or onion)
1 small tub of cream cheese
1 small jar of capers
Remaining fresh dill, minced

1. Drape plastic wrap over a baking sheet or glass dish, lay one half of the salmon filet, skin side down.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the salt, sugar and pepper. Sprinkle half of the salt mixture over the filet. Top with the dill. Pour over the vodka. It’ll look like this:

Lox with salt mixture, dill and vodka

3. Sprinkle the remaining salt mixture on the fleshy side of the other salmon filet. Place over the salmon in the dish, skin side up. Like this:

The two salmon filet halves, skin side out.

4. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Flip over and wrap in a second piece of plastic wrap. Like this:

Wrapped lox.

5. Place in refrigerator and weigh the fish down with something heavy, like a brick. (I used a ceramic loaf pan with a bottle of club soda on top because I’m creative.) Let sit for 36 hours, flipping over the fish ever 12 hours.

6. When the lox is done, unwrap and rinse gently under cold water. Pat dry. Slice very thinly at an extreme angle. (Hint: your knife will almost be parallel to the fish.) Like this:

Your knife should almost be flat on the fish.

 7. Serve with bagels, cream cheese, capers and the remaining fresh dill. Blush at the compliments from your friends!

Just kidding.

I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions. Every day’s a new opportunity to be a better you. So why not embrace each day as a new day and make self-improvement a never-ending process?

But I will admit that after the holidays I start to feel guilty about my indulgent holiday diet. So the “cleanse” part is true.

It’s hard to suddenly go from garlic-crusted prime rib roast, creamy mashed potatoes, lechon, pansit and lumpia (hey, this is how Filipinos do Christmas) to a dry salad. I still want to eat hot, filling meals.

And so, since it’s a chilly 65 degrees in Los Angeles, I whipped up a pot of one of my favorite soups. This curried corn bisque has a little extra kick — a more ethnic flavor, more spice and above all, it’s less sodium-saturated and more healthy. I worked off of EatingWell’s Curried Corn Bisque and with a few of my own modifications, it even became a favorite among my family.

Serves: 8-10
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons canola or vegetable oil
1 large chopped onion
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon Sriracha (optional)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 16-ounce packages frozen corn (thawed)
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup lite coconut milk
2 stalks green onion (for garnish)

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons curry powder, Sriracha, salt and pepper and stir to coat the onions.

2. Stir in corn, broth and water; increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil.

3. Remove from the heat and puree in a blender (in batches), or puree with an immersion blender into a thick, homogeneous texture.

4. Pour the bisque into a clean pot (this makes blending in batches easier), add coconut milk, and if needed, add a pinch more salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer, about 20-30 minutes. Serve and garnish with the chopped green onions on top.

My Notes:
How much curry and how little curry? I consider myself a curry fiend. But I understand not everyone wants that strong flavor. If you do want a milder taste, 2 tablespoons curry would be ideal. I felt that EatingWell’s recommendation of 1 tablespoon was too bland and resulted in more of a plain corn soup.

What kind of coconut milk? You should be able to easily find canned coconut milk in the ethnic foods aisle at your local grocery. If you go to an Asian market, you’ll likely find there are at least a dozen variations of coconut milk and coconut juice. Be sure you don’t purchase coconut juice as the texture and flavor are completely different. Coconut milk usually comes in a can.

Sriracha vs. any hot sauce. I’m a firm believer that this soup absolutely must be made with Sriracha and not just because I’m obsessed with it. Sriracha has the perfect consistency and the perfect boldness that keeps the texture of the soup while cutting through the coconut and hitting your tastebuds. While I do like Cholula and Tapatio, those aren’t the right hot sauces for this soup. Of course, if you don’t want spicy soup, you can skip this ingredient altogether.

Actually, it’s not nearly as important as I just made it sound. Months ago, while discussing with friends what we’d want to do if we found out we only had a year left to live, I admitted I wanted to publish my own cookbook. Nothing fancy, really. Just something nice to be able to leave behind.

No, I’m not dying.

But this idea got me thinking. Why wait till a possible terminal illness to pursue a small dream?

At first, I thought big. 50 recipes. Oof, nevermind. 30 recipes. Still too daunting. Too much work and likely not enough people to care. So I decided to make the project more manageable: 10 recipes in a self-published ebook in the Apple iBookstore.

I still need to finalize a few recipes and bug my boyfriend for help with the finishing touches. But I’m hopeful. And excited. And I’m telling you about it here to hold myself to the endeavor, to make sure I actually follow through with it.

If I’m not hyping it up enough, I’ve decided to publish one of the recipes here as a sneak peek. I’m confident once you try this, you’ll be looking for more.

My boyfriend’s mom deserves the credit for this Mexican Turkey Burger recipe. She was looking for healthy recipes and came across this, deliciously seasoned turkey that she normally grinds up into an omelet. On a day that I still had half a pound of turkey and some extra burger buns, I created the obvious. I was amazed.

I actually hate ground turkey and cringe at the sight of its leanness. But with the spices, fresh cilantro and vegetables, this recipe is super tasty and somehow quite juicy.

Makes: 4 burgers
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 hamburger buns, split
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, egg, cilantro, red onion, tomato, cumin, oregano, garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Separate the mixture into 4 equal-sized patties, about 1/2” thick.

2. In a grill pan or sauté pan with a splash of olive oil over medium-high heat, cook the turkey patties until the juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.

3. Toast the hamburger buns on the pan until marked, about 1-2 minutes.

4. Assemble: Brush olive oil onto the insides of the bread. For each burger, add 1-2 tomato slices, 1/4 cup mixed baby greens and a turkey patty. Be surprised that you don’t miss the good ol’ fashioned beef patty.

I love going out to restaurants with my friends and stuffing my face. But the only way I can balance out those massive caloric intakes is if I’m careful with the other meals I do eat. I came up with this recipe after days of gorging myself with flatbread and fried Brussels sprouts from Westside Tavern, French bread dunked in delicious shrimp and shrimp broth from Killer Shrimp, bulgogi shepherd’s pie, and braised short ribs.

Needless to say, I needed something light, nutritious and obviously, something I’d actually look forward to eating. I wanted a grilled vegetable sandwich. Eggplant alone has a pretty neutral flavor, and with its firm yet yielding texture, it makes for the perfect flavor sponge — it soaks up that fiery, smoky flavor from the grill. Paired with crunchy red bell pepper, nestled on a bed of fresh spinach, smeared lovingly with hummus and then tucked away into warm pita bread, it makes for the substantially perfect meal.

Still not quite sold? Each veggie and hummus-filled pita pocket yields just over 100 calories.

Serves: 4 sandwiches (half pitas)
Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
2 pitas, split in half
1/3 of a large eggplant, sliced lengthwise into 1/2″ ovals
1/2 of a red bell pepper, sliced lengthwise in half
2 cups spinach, washed and trimmed
3/4 cup hummus
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

This is more or less what your eggplant and red bell pepper will look like when you slice them.

1. Brush the eggplant and red bell pepper slices with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Over high heat, grill on a stovetop iron griddle or saute in a medium pan, 3-4 minutes on each side for the eggplant, and about 2 minutes on each side for the red bell pepper. Set aside. They’ll look like this:

Bonus points for cross-hatch marks!

2. Lightly warm the pitas on the grill, about 1 minute.

3. When the eggplant and red bell pepper have cooled slightly, cut into 1 to 1-1/2″ chunks. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Divide each into 4 equal portions (so you have equal amounts of vegetables in each sandwich). The veggie chunks will probably look like this:

4. Assemble sandwiches: Generously spoon about 3 tablespoons hummus into each pita. Stuff with about 1/2 cup of spinach, and 1 portion each of the eggplant and red bell pepper. Enjoy!

I globbed on extra hummus because I was starving.

My Notes:
How do you know it’s only 100 calories?! I inputted the quantities into my recipe to one of those handy dandy calorie calculators. The first time I added it up, I actually determined 95 calories. But it’s hard to get the exact number of calories in the eggplant, since the size and quantity will vary ever so slightly, and everyone will add varying amounts of olive oil and hummus. So I pegged the number at around 100 calories to be safe.

To those of you reading about it here, I’ll first state the obvious, that living on a budget is hard enough. But if you love gorging yourself with all kinds of food, it’s even more difficult to keep that wallet shut. So, in order to balance out my going out to eat at different, new-to-me restaurants — I consider it all a part of my food education — I have to figure out cheap meal plans to hold me over for the rest of the week.

But I’m done eating like a college kid, even though I’ll sheepishly admit that Maruchan Noodles eaten raw with the seasoning is freaking delicious, and that on a rainy day there’s just nothing quite like a hot Shin Ramyun cup.

I declared quinoa as my savior — and although a bag will set you back about $12, it lasts forever. I know, this is nothing new since everyone and their mom is raving about it. I also already had a kale obsession. And I just happened to have a bunch of lemons in my fridge. The resulting dish lasted me for the week, having kept well for 5-6 days. It’s filling and fresh, and because I sautéed the kale, this salad had an earthy savoriness that kept me wanting more.

Serves: 6-8
Time: About 40 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 14.5-ounce can chickpeas (a.k.a. garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 bunch kale leaves, torn (from about 5 stalks)
1 shallot, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 medium tomato, chopped into small dice (about 1 cup)
5-6 fresh basil leaves, torn or chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 lemon, juiced (about 4 tablespoons juice)
Zest of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup olive oil, divided
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Cook the quinoa: Over medium heat, add the quinoa to a saucepan and toast until it pops steadily and smells nutty, about 3 minutes. Add the water, bring to a boil and loosely cover until the quinoa has absorbed most of the water, about 12 minutes. Turn off heat, stir, cover and let sit about 10 minutes. Fluff with fork and set aside.

2. Prep and chop veggies: Meanwhile, drain the garbanzo beans, tear the kale into bite-sized pieces, chop the shallot and tomatoes and tear or chop the basil.

3. Over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons olive oil to a large saute pan. Add the kale and shallots and cook until slightly wilted, about 6 minutes. It’ll look something like this:

4. Transfer the cooked kale and shallots to a large mixing bowl. Add the quinoa, chickpeas, tomatoes and basil. Add a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Toss until well combined.

5. Whisk together lemon juice, lemon zest and 1/3 cup olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add 3/4 of the dressing to the salad and toss. Add additional dressing to taste.

My Notes:
Why toast the quinoa prior to cooking? Toasting the quinoa seeds just before adding the water gives it another dimension of flavor. The result is nuttier and more flavorful.

Why sauté the kale? Sautéing the kale eases the bitterness often associated with this hardy green. Combined with the nutty quinoa, the flavors are balanced well with the refreshing lemony dressing.

About a year ago she invited me over for dinner — sort of Asian food, sort of European, but somehow totally soul food. One of the dishes she made was Bulgogi Shepherd’s Pie. And it blew my mind. It doesn’t often occur to me to mix up traditional ingredients of different cultures so I was delighted by this surprise.

And then a few months later I started craving it. I couldn’t get it out of my head. “Yulree!” I exclaimed over a bacon donut one afternoon, “You MUST give me the recipe!” She agreed but laughingly admitted she cooks most of her dishes from memory and follows her instincts, so rattling off a recipe  wasn’t something she was used to. “Try!” I yelled, my mouth full of bacon bits and sweet dough.

“So there’s… Bulgogi beef… and vegetables… and mashed potatoes… and Parmesan cheese.” She said carefully, her eyes looking up at an imaginary thought bubble displaying images of food.

“And then…?” I had my phone out, ready to take notes.

“Cook the beef. Add the veggies — just buy one of those frozen assorted bags of peas and carrots. Make mashed potatoes. Layer those on top. Then add the cheese. Maybe some panko. Then stick it in the oven till the cheese melts.”

I stared at her blankly, my mouth now full of green tea donut. Then, like a couple of nerds, we proceeded to discuss various bulgogi marinades and ratios of meat to vegetable mix to potatoes. I actually felt silly for even asking for the recipe because when you really think about it, isn’t all shepherd’s pie just cooked meat and random veggies nestled under mashed potatoes?

When I eventually got around to testing out the dish, I worked off a bulgogi marinade recipe I learned at school and made mashed potatoes the way I’d normally make ‘em. Yulree hasn’t gotten to try my experiment but I’d like to think I my shepherd’s pie came pretty damn close to hers. Enjoy!

Seves: 8
Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Ingredients
Bulgogi marinade/beef:
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1.5 cups sugar
2.5 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
8 garlic cloves, smashed
2 stalks green onion, sliced thinly on the bias
2 pounds very thinly sliced ribeye steak

Mashed potatoes:
3 pounds Russet potatoes (about 4 large)
1/3 cup whole milk
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Other filling:
1 12-ounce bag frozen peas, carrots and corn, defrosted

Topping:
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 stalks green onion, sliced thinly on the bias

1. Make bulgogi marinade: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, mirin and sesame oil. Whisk in the sugar until it dissolves and sauce thickens. Whisk in the black pepper, sesame seeds, garlic and green onions. Reserve 1/3 cup of marinade and set aside. Add the beef to the large bowl with marinade, cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours.

2. Start the mashed potatoes: Peel and quarter the potatoes. Add to a large pot and cover with water. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil and let cook until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes.

3. Transfer the potatoes to a standing mixer or to a large bowl. Mix on low (or mash by hand in the bowl if you’re not as lazy as I am) until nicely mashed. Add the milk, butter, salt and pepper. Continue mixing until combined. Season to taste. Pro tip: don’t add much more than the 1 teaspoon salt — after all, you’re topping off this casserole with Parmesan cheese.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

5. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, cook the marinated bulgogi steak to medium doneness (1-2 minutes on each side), working in batches if necessary.

6. Layer cooked meat in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. If you have any residual marinade in the saute pan, pour it over the meat. Add the reserved 1/3 cup of marinade. Don’t worry about it not looking pretty. Because it won’t. It’ll look somewhat sloppy and totally delicious, like this:

7. Evenly scatter the defrosted peas, carrots and corn over the bulgogi beef. Layer over the mashed potatoes. Finally, sprinkle the Parmesan cheese and green onions on top. Bake in the oven until the cheese melts, about 12-15 minutes.

I guess except for maybe cabbage, because they’re technically in the same family.

But cabbage leaves are obviously bigger, and have a lighter flavor. And whenever I think about that veggie, the first thing that comes to mind is Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory‘s Charlie Bucket wailing to his family, “I’m sick of cabbage water! It’s not enough!”

Anyway, I digress. On with the recipe. So in culinary school a few months ago, one of my chef instructors whipped up for us a plate of Brussels sprouts. We oohed and ahhed, gobbled up second helpings and licked our fingers clean (because when you’re a rookie like us cooking for hours at a time, you eventually ditch the plastic forks and dig in with your hands, despite the constant reprimanding not to do so). Our tastebuds still swimming in our Brussels sprout high, we anxiously asked for the recipe and our jaws dropped when Chef revealed the secret: Butter. Salt. Pepper. Yes. Pair this with any kind of rich meat dish, like braised short ribs, and you’ll have yourself a sophisticated, French-inspired dinner.

Serves: 4
Prep time: About 30 minutes
Cook time: About 10 minutes

Ingredients:
2 pounds Brussels sprouts
4 tablespoons butter
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon white pepper

1. Deleaf the sprouts: Gently peel each leaf off a given sprout until you reach the small core. If desired, cut the core in half and add to the pile of Brussels sprouts leaves. This may take awhile, so be patient! Rinse and dry.

2. Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the leaves, stirring to coat. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon white pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until Brussels sprouts are slightly wilted, but not browned, about 8-10 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper, as desired.

My Notes:
Why deleaf the Brussels sprouts? Because it’s pretty. And because the process of washing them becomes easier. And because they’ll cook more quickly and evenly. In a pinch, you can quarter them instead, but expect to give them about 5 minutes more cooking time.