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dinner : rotisserie chicken with pine nut brussels sprouts and spicy beets

The beets are back!  And they brought company!!

I actually decided to time myself for this one.  Thirty-two minutes from start to finish*.  Here's how it's done.

Stuff you need close at hand:
1 rotisserie chicken
1 lb pre-cooked packaged beets (yes, beets again)
1.5 lb fresh brussels sprouts
3-4 tablespoons pine nuts
3 scallions
3 oz soft goat cheese
olive oil
red pepper flakes
salt (optional)
2 big bowls
1 non-stick skillet
big knife
easy to clean cutting board (because this could get messy)
utensils for stirring stuff

Put the skillet over medium-low heat and toast the pine nuts.  While that's going on, trim and quarter (or halve, depending on the size) the sprouts, but be very careful to keep an eye on the nuts.  Once the nuts are nice and golden, throw them into one of the big bowls (we'll call this bowl #1). Raise the heat to medium, add some olive oil to the skillet and throw in the sprouts.  Toss them around to coat them in the oil and let them cook while you move on to the next steps.  Every few minutes, go back to the skillet and move things around to keep them from burning, you can add a bit of water to steam the sprouts once they have accumulated some nicely browned spots.

Slice the scallions thinly and toss them into the other big bowl (bowl #2)  Cut the beets into bite sized pieces  and throw them into bowl #2.  Sprinkle in some red pepper flakes, a splash of olive oil, and some salt if you like. Stir to combine.  Spicy beets are done!

Cut up the rotisserie chicken (remove the skin if you want) and set aside.  Rotisserie chicken is done!

At this point, you will just be babysitting the sprouts, tasting occasionally to see if they're cooked through.  Once you're satisfied with the texture, plop them into bowl #1 along with the pine nuts, throw in the goat cheese and stir to combine, until the cheese is melted and evenly distributed.  Pine nut Brussels sprouts are done!

This made 4 very generous and very delicious servings.

*2 minutes were spent idly nibbling on a piece of chicken back.

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