Ode to veggies

A year ago, I would never have believed that my standard grocery list would ever contain zucchini, cauliflower, and cabbage, but we've been buying that stuff by the truckload and can't keep it in the house. (Not to mention, I'm working my way through my second jicama and third sweet potato.) I had never eaten zucchini until a few months ago, but everything I make with it is so unfailingly delicious, I think it might be my favorite vegetable. And my 11-year-old routinely gives the nickname "death by tasties" to anything with cauliflower in it.

This Paleo experiment has been well worth the trouble, if only for this new-found ability to cook and eat vegetables.

Here's a great recipe for Paleo lo mein, which I made without the deadly celery, replacing the water chestnuts with chopped jicama. I also loved these zucchini cakes, even though I couldn't get them to stay in actual cakes on my first try. And today I made an aMAZing version of Paleo Pad Thai using grated jicama and zucchini instead of chopped peas and onions.

I've discovered that I also like Brussels sprouts (another new veggie for me), but they always seemed too dry. Until I invented this:

Creamy Brussels Sprouts
Four slices bacon
half a bag of Brussels sprouts, ends and outer leaves chopped off and cut in quarters
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 button mushrooms, washed and quartered
half a large onion (or one small one), chopped
half cup of coconut milk
salt
pepper

Cook the bacon in a skillet, removing when it's done and leaving all the fat. Cook the veggies in the bacon grease until tender. Stir in the coconut milk, heat through, salt and pepper to taste, and stir in crumbled bacon.