Inspired by......laziness!

Sooo I decided to take a wee break from themes this weekend and do the good ol fashion "I'm too lazy to run to the grocery store/finish things in my fridge/pantry" dance.  Thankfully my fridge & pantry had some great stuff to work with!  I bought a bag of brussels sprouts last week knowing that I would not muster the energy to shop for a recipe and Suril had serendipitously purchased a "Cooking Light" magazine with an amazing recipe for brussels sprouts.  For the accompanying recipe- My mom, being a constant source of enlightenment in my foodie world, gave me a bag of "black rice" a few weeks ago.  It looks SUPER interesting uncooked and I was so curious to see what the texture/taste of this new grain would be like.  So I decided to google and surely enough, found a simple recipe using ingredients I already had.  The texture, as predicted, was amazing and very similar to brown (maybe even yummier!).  A little familiar with the unfamiliar resulted in a great meal!

Brussels Sprouts Gratin
Adapted from a recipe by Cooking Light
Prep time: 15 minutes  |  Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 bacon slices 
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• Cooking spray 
• 1 (2-ounce) slice French bread baguette, torn to small bits
• 3 tablespoons butter 

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving drippings; crumble in a separate bowl/plate. 
3. Increase heat to medium-high. 
4. Add diced onion to drippings in pan; sauté for 2 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. 
5. Add Brussels sprouts and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. 
6. Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil; cook 6 minutes or until Brussels sprouts are almost tender. 
7. Uncover and remove from heat. 
8. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper; toss to combine. 
9. Spoon Brussels sprouts mixture into a 2-quart broiler-safe glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.
10. Place baguette bits in a food processor, and process until finely ground. 
11. Melt butter in skillet over medium-high heat. 
12. Add breadcrumbs and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to pan; sauté for 2 minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently. 
13. Add cooked, crumbled bacon to toasted breadcrumb mixture. 
14. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over Brussels sprouts mixture. 
15. Broil 3 minutes or until golden and thoroughly heated.

Black Rice & Edamame
Adapted from a recipe by thekitchn
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup black rice 
• 1 white onion, diced
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 cup frozen edamame
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp soy sauce

Directions:

1. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent.
2. Add rice and cook for 1 minute.
3. Pour chicken broth over top and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 30 minutes.
5. 5 minutes before the timer goes off, sautee edamame in a small pan with a little olive oil.
6. In a small bowl, combine sesame oil and soy sauce.
7. Remove the cover from the rice and fluff.
8. Pour the oil and soy sauce over top and add the edamame. Stir to incorporate and remove from heat.