Crispy Brussels Sprouts w/Coconut Bechamel Sauce - Healthy Recipe Ecstasy (2024)

Ugh. I hate when I get an idea for a new recipe (usually based off the few ingredients left in our fridge and pantry at the end of the week when I’m supposed to go to the grocery store but don’t feel like it), and I get into the recipe making zone – otherwise known as the kitchen disaster zone – only to be disappointedby the verdict. Here’s what happens. I carefully write down all the ingredients, take tons of pictures which more often than not turn out better than expected, and start drafting the blog post in mymind, all excited to share a new original recipe with you guys. Then I taste it, and it’s disappointing at best, disgusting at worst. Finally, I’m left with an internal battle. Do I start from scratch and work with the recipe until it meets my expectations and forget about posting a blog that day? Do I scrap the recipe and move onto another one? Or do I just suck it up and share my disappointment with the world (aka the small microcosm of food blog followers out therewho have chosen to follow my blog)?

Well, today I had to make just that decision. My original, original plan for dinner(yes, I meant to write original twice)was to makemy sesame-crusted tuna with spicy mint mayonnaise with a side of my pancetta Brussels sprouts — both of which have the Alasdair gold seal of approval — but I was too lazy to walkto the market for tuna and pancetta. I had also planned to makea special deviled egg recipeforthe blog, but, again, I didn’t feel like making my way to the marketto buy eggs.See a pattern? I’m lazy. So I was left with frozen chicken thighs from myfreezer, Brusselssprouts from my fridge, and coconut milkfrom mypantry. I thought to myself, ok, I can make this work. I’ll make chicken thighs and Brusselssprouts fordinner and create a new Brussels sprouts recipe for the blog. Two birds, one sprout.

Since I didn’t have pancetta, ham or bacon —Brusselssprouts’ besties — to give the sproutsthat fatty, salty flavor, I decided that I needed a rich sauce to complement the crispy sprouts. I’ve been dying to make a coconut milk béchamel, and what better time than now? So I cooked the cashews until golden, fried the sprouts until crispy and brown, andadded some garlic, cayenne and coriander to give them flavor and kick.

Then, I made the béchamel sauce – just like regular béchamel except with coconut milk instead of regular milk. It was all looking fantastic and the sprouts were tasting nice and crispy. But then I tasted the béchamel…. Just so you know, I’m making a face. The kind of face that goes from hopeful to quizzical to pouty. It wasn’t that the béchamel didn’t turn out right. It was thick and creamy and smooth. I just really didn’t like the coconut flavor, which is weird because I’ve successfully used coconut milk in many other recipes. Alasdair wasn’t as offended by the coconut flavor but he thought the sauce was really bland which is his culinary pet peeve. Hence, his penchant for putting hot sauce and BBQ sauce on EVERYTHING.I tried adding some more salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne. But the sauce just tastedlike bland coconut milkwith a hint of heat.

*Sigh*. My original plan (we’re talking second time around original)was to pour the béchamelsauce over the sprouts but, since the sauce was disappointing, I settled with tossing the sprouts in two tablespoons of sauce.

That worked fine, and the sprouts turned out surprisingly good. But it’s not the exciting new sproutscovered in awesomecoconut béchamel sauce recipe thatI was hoping for. So, why am I telling you all this? Well, we all have kitchen disappointments, and I thought maybe my friends in the blogosphere could commiserate with me. Also, I was wondering if anyone out there has made a successful coconut milk béchamel. If so, let me know!

The one positive that came out of this recipe was the leftover coconut milk béchamel sauce. While it definitely doesn’t deserve to be the star of the show andpoured on top of crispy sprouts or used asa dipping sauce, the sauce doeswork very well in the background. In fact, not wanting to waste all the unused sauce, I decided to use it as a marinade for the chicken thighs. And, thank goodness I did because my chicken thighs turned out fantastic (I promise to share the recipe sometime in the future if I can remember it!). Despite thebéchamel sauce disappointment, we had a delicious dinner of minty chicken thighs and crispy Brussels sprouts.

Healthy Recipe Ecstasy?One of the reasons I wanted to make a coconut milk béchamel is that I LOVE béchamel but my stomach doesn’t always share my feelings. In my search for the perfect dairy-free béchamel sauce, I’ve tried almond milk béchamel (fail), soy milk béchamel (ok but not amazing), and I had high hopes for thecoconut milk béchamel. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed today. However, the sprouts themselves were totally satisfying. This is one of the first times that I’ve made Brussels sprouts sans bacon without feeling like I was missing out. The cashews and spices add enough flavor that I really didn’t miss the meat…that much. All in all, we both ended the night with full and happy tummies. 🙂