This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Albertsons. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of my all time favorite side dishes to celebrate autumn harvest and to make for holiday celebrations is browned Brussels sprouts with lemon. These are so good I could easily eat the entire recipe all in one sitting. (But shhh, don’t tell anyone I said that.) And Albertsons is your simple solution for your own holiday planning. You can purchase ingredients for your holiday meals (like these Brussels sprouts), prepared foods from the bakery and service deli, holiday treats, party trays, décor, greeting cards, gift supplies, etc. — all from Albertsons.

Even better? These Brussels sprouts are easier than easy to whip up, they don’t take lot of cook time, and they’re cheap!

If you want to up the ease factor, take advantage of Albertsons Grocery Delivery or DriveUp & Go services to order your groceries ahead of time and pick them up — all without having to go into the store yourself. That’s what I did for this recipe to save a little time, which was a huge bonus! Don’t forget to visit the Albertsons website for recipes, shopping, meal orders, etc.

Once you’ve got your veggies and any other ingredients you need back home, preheat your skillet, be sure to wash the sprouts, trim the bottoms off and discard any outer leaves. (You might want to give them another rinse after this step, too, just to ensure you’re cleaning off any residual dirt.) Then, slice your sprouts in half (or quarters if you’d prefer).

Once your skillet is nice and hot (I love my cast-iron skillet), add the oil and butter and sprouts and you’re off to the races! But don’t get too fired up yet — let the sprouts chill for a bit to give them their first browning.

Then, get your stir on. Shuffle those sprouts around a few times to evenly brown them on all sides. (I like mine extra browned, which you can see in my images. If you prefer a less-browned sprout, stir them more often.)

To give your sprouts the perfect bite — not too hard, not too soft, juuuust right — you’ll want to steam them. Toss in the water, put a lid on it, and let those little gems soften.

Last, but not least (because this is my absolute favorite part and what really makes this recipe sing), season your sprouts to taste with salt, pepper, (the optional pinch of nutmeg), and the ever-magical lemon juice.

I absolutely love a sprout that’s a little tart, so I opt for the larger amount of lemon juice. If you’re unsure how you’ll like it, start small and add more juice to taste. A large half of a lemon will typically give you plenty of juice. (And that leftover second half of the lemon will come in handy when you decide to immediately make this recipe again.)

Serve the sprouts warm and try not to devour them too quickly!

I shopped at Albertsons in my local area to get my ingredients, but you can also look for similar products at any of the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb, Safeway, and Vons.

Browned Brussels Sprouts with Lemon

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

16 mins

Total time

26 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Side dish

Cuisine: American

Makes: 8

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• Kosher salt
• ¼ cup water
• 2 to 4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I like mine tart so I usually use 4)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat (I love my cast-iron pan for this). When it’s hot, add the oil and butter. As soon as the butter melts, add the Brussels sprouts and spread evenly around the pan. Sprinkle with salt and cook without disturbing until browned on the first side, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the pinch of nutmeg if you'd like, and continue to cook, stirring the sprouts occasionally, until they’re well browned all over, another 5 to 8 minutes.
3. Add the water, cover partially, and cook until tender, another 4 to 5 minutes (if the water evaporates completely during cooking, add more, 2 Tablespoons at a time). Don’t overcook; the sprouts shouldn’t be mushy.
4. Season to taste with the lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve immediately or keep warm for up to 20 minutes. These are also delicious as leftovers.

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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Albertsons. All opinions are 100% mine.

If there’s one thing I love about summer, it’s definitely the abundance of fresh summer fruit healthy snacks! Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and those beautiful Flathead cherries are all favorites of mine to satisfy my sweet tooth, but also still toe the healthy line. These fruits are available at most Albertsons and Safeway stores within Missoula, but be sure to ask a store near you!

Speaking of which, did you know that “fruits are an excellent source of essential vitamins and minerals, and they are high in fiber? Fruits also provide a wide range of health-boosting antioxidants, including flavonoids.” Additionally, “eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables can reduce a person’s risk of developing heart disease, cancer, inflammation, and diabetes. Citrus fruits and berries may be especially powerful for preventing disease.” (Source: Medical News Today)

The fruits that I picked up from Albertsons make it so easy to encourage healthy snacking. No chopping required! No baking in the heat of the summer! Just a good rinse under some water and you’re set to pop ’em in your mouth, or top off a healthy smoothie recipe. I shopped at Albertsons in my local Montana area to score these goodies, but you can also find a beautiful assortment of fresh, quality produce at any of the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market and Tom Thumb.

I was pretty impressed by the quality of the fruits they offer at Albertsons. (And, when I went they had a 3 for $6 deal that was a pleasant surprise – keep in mind that this kind of deal may vary depending on where you’re located.) They were all beautiful, ripe, and the most important part, tasty! Flathead cherries weren’t yet in season when I made my fruit purchase, but definitely keep your eyes open for them as these gems will sell quickly! For all of you hikers out there, throwing some fresh fruit in my day pack is high on my list of essentials. I can tell you from experience there is absolutely nothing better than reaching the top of a peak after a grueling climb, plopping yourself down on a sun-warmed rock, whipping out a juicy strawberry or cherry and biting into that deliciousness as you survey the world from the tippy top of your new viewpoint.

And, if you’ve just spent a gorgeous day outside and would rather expend your energy anywhere else than on a grocery shopping excursion, don’t forget that Albertsons and Safeway also offer Grocery Delivery and Drive Up & Go for convenient ways to shop! Even better – keep an eye out for regular deals in their Albertsons weekly ad.

What are some of your favorite summer fruits? How do you love to use them and their easy pack-ability? How do you incorporate fruits in your healthy lifestyle? I’d love to hear your ideas!

Ah, summertime. It’s toasty hot, I’m usually pretty exhausted from long hours spent photographing in the relentless sun, and all I crave is, what feels like, bucket-fulls of fresh fruit. Enter this peach blackberry and strawberry fruit salad with basil, lime and pepper. So easy, so fast, and so bright with fresh flavor!

 I also love that this fruit salad takes the interest level up a notch by adding in the black pepper. Quite honestly, it may sound like a pretty odd addition to a fruit salad, but trust me – it’s a perfect pairing and gives it just a little kick to make your tastebuds really darn happy.

 As far as fruit salads go, this one scores top marks for me not only because of its great flavor, but for the fact that it’s not loaded with sugar, and uses mostly natural sugars already found in the fruit.

This comes together lickety-split, so do yourself and your tastebuds a favor and make it for dinner or your next picnic!

Peach Blackberry and Strawberry Fruit Salad with Basil, Lime and Pepper

 

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Prep time

25 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Salad

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 3 peaches (about 6 ounces each), halved, pitted, and cut into ½-inch pieces
• 10 ounces (about 2 cups) blackberries
• 10 ounces strawberries, hulled and quartered lengthwise (about 2 cups)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Instructions

1. Combine sugar, basil and pepper in a large bowl. Using a rubber spatula, press the mixture into the side of the bowl until sugar becomes damp, about 30 seconds.
2. Gently toss fruit with sugar mixture until combined. Let sit at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until fruit releases its juices, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in lime juice to taste and serve.

Notes

From The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook.

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Once again, life gets away from me and I haven’t been able to post on here as much as I’d prefer. I’ve also been in a bit of a slump recipe-wise. You know…the kind where you make a meal and it’s just sort of lacking somehow and all you can do is utter a resouding, “Meh.” Thankfully, that’s turned right around with these Chipotle Spice Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Cream. An about face, really!

I made these last night, and I canNOT get enough of them, despite the fact that they are tacos and are somewhat messy to eat (I tend to avoid messy things, which is really pretty silly of me). In my opinion, these tacos embody everything that really makes a recipe shine – they’re easy, they’re quick to make, they’re healthy (gluten-free, too!), they deliver a satisfying crunch of texture, they’re filling yet light, and they make my spice-loving self giddy.

Spice, to me, is essential in a good recipe. Without spices to take regular ingredients to the next level, I’m left with that unsatisfied “meh” feeling. But this…this recipe is full of robust flavor. The chipotle spice is a little sweet, a little smoky, with just a hint of heat. And yes – it’s specifically chipotle chili pepper powder you want to use here. Regular chili powder is often a blend of spices. Typically in the blend you’ll get chilis (however, you often won’t know what kind of pepper is included), cumin, oregano, garlic and salt. And while that may work in a pinch, it’s nice to use straight up chipotle chili pepper powder that’s unadulterated by those other spices.

It’s worth mentioning, too, that the heat from the chipotle chili pepper powder is tempered by the addition of the avocado cream, so if you prefer more heat in your meals, then I’d suggest cutting the chipotle powder with a little cayenne to amp up the heat level.

Which leads me to…that avocado cream. You’ll start out making this first, and ohhhhh – is it ever-so-delicious, so refreshing, so light and pleasantly tangy. I’m a bit of a lime-lover, so I tend to splash a little more lime juice and a little more lime zest than called for into my recipes. Not *too* much more, though, or that pleasant tang can overpower the other flavors of this dish.

Once you’ve made the avocado cream, you can prep the cilantro slaw, which is also bright, light and happy, and really adds a satisfying crunch to the tacos. I just used a pre-made slaw base to keep this on the quick and easy side, but you can make your own from scratch, too. I again splashed a little more lime juice than called for into the slaw and added a generous dose of cilantro, a dash of green onions, and, holy moly – I lurrrve it.

Once you’ve got your avocado cream and slaw created and ready to go, go ahead and start working on your chicken. Sprinkle the spices evenly over the 1/4″ strips you’ve cut from the breast, pop them into a toasty-hot pan lightly coated with olive oil, and sizzle away for about 4 minutes or so as you stir and flip the chicken pieces frequently. You’ll likely want to cook your chicken in two batches, so be sure to keep the first batch warm by tenting it with foil as you finish up the rest.

Tent all the chicken once you’ve completed cooking it, and get your tortillas warm and ready to go. There are a few options – you can microwave them along with a damp paper towel, you can dry toast them in a hot, dry pan (this will add just the slightest crunch, so if you like that, go for it!), or you can directly toast them over an open flame on your stovetop. I prefer this method and turn my flame onto a medium-low setting, set the tortilla directly over the flame (and on the stove top grate) for about 30 seconds each side, shifting it around a bit so it can evenly warm and lightly char the surface. After you’ve warmed and toasted your tortillas, you’ll want to prevent heat loss by gently wrapping them in a clean dish towel.

Then, it’s assembly time! A serving of these chipotle spice chicken tacos with cilantro slaw and avocado cream is about two tacos, so get everything ready to go, add a few pieces of chicken, add a few tablespoons of slaw, add about a tablespoon of avocado cream and sprinkle with a few rinsed and drained black beans. Voila – dig in!

(P.S. If you don’t eat all the servings for this recipe in one go, it makes for great, fast leftovers, too. Just heat your chicken separately, get your tortillas toasted and assemble. Easy as pie!)

Chipotle Spice Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Cream

 

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Prep time

22 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Big Sky, Little Kitchen

Recipe type: Dinner

Makes: 16 tacos (8 servings)

Ingredients

Avocado Cream

• ¼ to ½ teaspoon grated lime rind (or grate about half a lime)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ½ cup non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
• 4 tablespoons plain, unsweetened coconut milk - not from a can, but from a carton (like Silk)
• 1 ripe, peeled avocado, diced

Cilantro Slaw

• 4 cups packaged slaw
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onion
• ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• ½ teaspoon salt

Chipotle Spice Chicken

• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into ¼-inch strips
• 1½ teaspoons chipotle chili pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Beans

• 1 can, rinsed and drained black beans

Tortillas

• 16, 6-inch corn tortillas

Instructions

1. For the avocado cream, combine lime juice, lime zest, yogurt, coconut milk and avocado in a blender, food processor or immersion blender, and process until smooth. Set aside.
2. For the cilantro slaw, combine slaw, green onion, cilantro, olive oil, lime juice and salt in a medium-sized bowl, and toss to coat. Set aside.
3. For the chicken, heat a large saute pan over medium-high to high heat.
4. Combine chipotle chili powder, garlic powder, salt and cumin in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
5. Sprinkle the chicken with the seasoning mixture.
6. Add olive oil to pan and swirl to coat.
7. Add about half the chicken to the pan and cook for 4 minutes, stirring frequently, and flipping the chicken about halfway through. Remove and keep warm with foil tent. Repeat this for remaining chicken.
8. Heat the corn tortillas either via dry toasting in a dry pan, via microwave along with a damp paper towel, or directly over an open flame. To keep tortillas warm until ready to serve and assemble, place in a clean dishtowel and loosely cover.
9. Divide the chicken mixture evenly among the tortillas. Top each with ¼ cup slaw mixture, 1 tablespoon avocado cream, and 1 tablespoon black beans, and serve.

Notes

Regular, low-fat or non-fat milk can be used in place of coconut milk in a carton.
Light sour cream can be used in place of the Greek yogurt.
If you'd like more heat in your tacos, I suggest cutting a bit of the chipotle spice with cayenne to amp it up a bit more.

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