Masquerades: Brussel Sprouts as Artichokes and An Hour for a Day

Wanted to share two great recipies I've made in the past week.  Both have a mildly clandestine quality to them, and both yield results that far outweigh efforts.

The first is a Brussel Sprout Dip that comes from a former classmate of mine and her amazing food, etc. blog Live Love Pasta.

The only changes I made were the addition of another clove or two of garlic (pretty standard for me) and because I was lazy, I sprinkled more parmesan on top rather than almonds. 

We presented this at a friends' game night with crackers and cut veggies (goes particularly well with cucumber and celery) and people were all "Yum!  It's artichoke dip!  No?  Oh.  Yum!  It's spinach dip! Still no?  Huh.  Well, yum."  The trendy brussel sprout rages on.

The second dish comes from Eating Well magazine.  John's mom squirrels issues away for us and since visiting Nebraska for Christmas, I've wanted to make this tomato-y, barley-y, hearty-y soup.   Well, there is no better time for making soup than late on winter afternoons, so here is the Bean & Barley Soup recipe.

 

In terms of modifications, I am not a huge fan of licorice, so I left the fennel in large chunks and picked it out halfway through simmering.  I added an extra can of tomatoes and for the fans of the veggie-might-be-a-fruit, I would highly recommend using a total of three.  The soup can definitely tolerate more spinach (a whole 9 oz. bag would work) and I added a shallot to my onions just because I had one on hand.  

The whole process took about an hour, but the soup has the quality and richness of a long-simmered, much contemplated dish.  So, you know, our lunches are very sophisticated(ish) this week.