- Hi guys, welcome back to my channel and happy new year.
I hope everybody had a fantastic holiday season.
Well, if you were lucky enough
to get any air fryer for Christmas,
I am gonna show you three vegetable side dishes
that you can make in them,
that are quick, nutritious and delicious.
First up, I'm gonna show you how to make
these delicious air fryer carrots
with a yogurt and cilantro dipping sauce.
I think one of the biggest challenges
about eating more vegetables in our diet is the prep work,
because you have to peel them, then you have to cut them,
you have to chop them and then prepare them.
And sometimes you just kinda don't wanna
go through all the effort.
I know, I have been there,
but I think one of the biggest time-saving tips
is to buy vegetables that are a little bit pre prepped
ahead of time.
These carrots, what I love about them
is they've already been peeled
and they've already been trimmed.
So they are all ready to go.
I know that it costs more money to do that
but sometimes when I'm grocery shopping
I have to do a time versus money analysis.
This is a great exercise where you look at something
and you say, "Okay, I'm gonna spend a little bit more money,
but I'm gonna save time."
So it's worth spending the extra money
or it might be,
"You know what, I need to save some more money.
So I'm gonna do something that's gonna
take a little bit more time."
And I love the baby carrots because you can fit
a pound of them in the air fryer.
Now, typically with air fryers,
you don't wanna use a ton of oil.
So, I think a good way to get a nice coating
without overdoing it is to use
these little spray bottles of olive oil.
So, I'm just gonna do one or two spritz.
That's all it takes.
And then you can toss those up.
And that's just gonna add a little bit more flavor
and give our spices something to stick to.
And then on top of this,
we're also going to add half a teaspoon
of garam masala spice.
I really love garam masala.
It's a spice blend that you see in a lot of Indian cooking.
I love it because it adds such a warming flavor
to the carrot.
And then the other thing we're gonna add
are some fennel seeds.
So the fennel seeds add this really delicious
almost like licorice flavor,
which is a great match with the carrots
and the garam masala.
And then we're also gonna add a good pinch
of salt, just to taste.
And that's all there is to it.
Hey, so we are gonna put these in the air fryer
at 375 for just about 10 to 15 minutes.
I also like the air fryer
because I see it as like a little mini oven.
So if I have something like a chicken
that's roasting in the oven and it's a different temperature
than I wanna have the carrots.
I just pop them in the air fryer.
And then I get both of them going at the same time.
Now, for the dipping sauce, this is super easy.
All you're gonna do is take a half cup
of non-fat Greek yogurt
or you can do 2%, whatever you prefer.
And then you're gonna add a teaspoon of fresh lime juice.
So the combination of the yogurt
and the lime juice is gonna create
a really delicious cooling sensation
against that warming spice of the carrots.
And then we're also gonna add a tablespoon
of freshly chopped cilantro and a little pinch of salt
just to spike all those flavors.
There, and that's all you have to do.
And then just whisk it up
and then you can nestle it in with the carrots.
How pretty is that?
Should we give it a try?
Let's see.
See, and this just makes it so much more fun
when you have a little dipping sauce.
So delicious.
You've got that real tartness of the yogurt and the cilantro
and the sweetness of the carrot mixed with the spice.
It just dresses up carrots
and gives them a new outfit for the new year.
Next up, I'm going to show you
how to make some delicious air fryer, brussel sprouts.
Now, brussels sprouts sometimes can turn people off because
chances are they haven't had them cooked the right way.
So a boiled brussels sprout is not gonna be any good,
the best way in my opinion to eat them is roasted.
But in the oven it can take a really long time
to get them nice and charred and crispy,
but in the air fryer, it only takes under 15 minutes.
So I have a pound of brussel sprouts here.
I think the smaller ones tend to work the best,
just because they can fit in the air fryer a bit better.
And I find it doesn't take as long.
So you just wanna cut off the ends of the sprout.
And if you see any damage leaves, you can remove those.
And then I like to cut them in half,
just so that they get nice charring on the cut side.
I also find that it helps them cook quicker too.
If your brussels sprouts are large,
you can even quarter them.
Then for our brussels sprouts,
we're gonna do just another few sprays of the olive oil,
a little salt and pepper to taste.
And then the thing that's gonna add a lot of flavor
to these brussels sprouts and make them really delicious
is some balsamic vinegar.
So we're gonna do a full tablespoon.
And don't worry,
it's not gonna have a vinegary taste when it's done.
It's gonna be actually really sweet and delicious.
Okay, into the air fryer they go.
And then 375 for just 13 minutes.
And then a minute before they are done,
go ahead and pull them out.
Then add 1/4 cup of dried cranberries
and 1/3 of a cup of walnuts.
Basically what this will do is toast the nuts a little bit
and bring up their flavor as well as soften the cranberries.
And then just go for another minute.
And then you'll see a such a delicious side dish
with that charred brussel sprouts, little bits of walnuts
and of course the cranberries.
This would also be really good with some blue cheese on top.
Okay. Next step broccoli.
Broccoli and cauliflower do really well in the air fryer.
And when you see what we're gonna season it with,
this will be your new go-to broccoli dish.
Now, if you need ideas for what to serve
all these vegetables with,
I'll give you some ideas on the description
and point you to some recipes
that I think these would pair well with.
Okay. So back to our olive oil spray, we go.
We're gonna do our two to three spritz.
Then we're going to add a little bit of salt to taste,
a little bit of pepper.
And as you can see,
I'm just using the pre-cut broccoli florets.
Not only because it's easier to clean up,
anytime you cut a head of broccoli or cauliflower
it tends to kinda go everywhere,
but they're basically around the same size
which helps them cook at the same rate.
Then we're also gonna add some sliced garlic.
So I find if you slice garlic, as opposed to mincing it,
especially in the air fryer,
it has a tendency of just sort of perfuming
whatever you have in the air fryer with garlic flavor,
it won't burn.
And then you can add the garlic in.
There you go.
And then we have some more things we're gonna add
after it cooks, but let's get it going,
10 minutes at 375.
And then once your broccoli is done,
you're gonna add a half a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil.
Make sure you get the toasted sesame oil,
because the regular sesame oil doesn't have much flavor.
Then I also like to add two tablespoons of raw almonds,
just for a little bit of crunch and a little more nutrition.
And then if you like a little bit of heat,
I also think a little pinch of red pepper flakes
is also really good on top.
And if you need more air fryer recipes,
be sure to check out my playlist here
and there you will find some of my other favorite
air fryer recipes.
All right you guys,
I'll see you back here next week until then. Bye.