Sticky Brussels Sprouts with Rice & Avocado
Honey, Sriracha, soy sauce, and raw garlic, whisked into a sticky glaze that coats halved Brussels sprouts straight from a 400°F oven. Five more minutes and the glaze caramelizes into something that makes the vegetable genuinely hard to stop eating.
The bowl builds on brown rice with raw spinach, thin-sliced carrot, cold avocado, and toasted pumpkin seeds. 899 calories, 22g fiber, and 25g protein without a single animal source on the plate.
That soy sauce in the glaze carries a second function. A 1990 clinical trial found that traditionally fermented soy sauce tripled iron absorption from rice (3.3×, P = 0.0002). This bowl stacks that with garlic, which independently boosts iron uptake from grains through a completely different mechanism.
Ingredients
- Brussels sprouts (frozen) 6 ounces
- olive oil 1 tablespoon
- brown rice 3 ounces
- carrot 1
- avocado 0.5
- scallion 1
- garlic 1 clove
- pumpkin seeds 1 ounce
- honey 1 tablespoon
- Sriracha sauce 1 teaspoon
- soy sauce 1 tablespoon
- spinach 1 handful
- vinegar 0.5 tablespoon
Method
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Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
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Halve the Brussels sprouts, place them in a bowl and toss with oil, salt and pepper. Place the Brussels sprouts cut side down on the baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
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Cook the rice according to the package instructions. Set aside.
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Slice the carrot into thin strips, cut the avocado into slices, chop the scallion and mince the garlic.
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Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan over low heat and set aside.
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In a small bowl, mix honey, Sriracha, soy sauce and garlic for the sauce and set aside.
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Remove the Brussels sprouts from the oven and return them to the bowl. Add half of the sauce and mix well to coat all the Brussels sprouts. Place the Brussels sprouts back in the oven for another 5 minutes to caramelize the sauce.
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Spoon the rice into a serving bowl, add a handful of spinach to one side of the bowl and arrange the Brussels sprouts, carrot, and avocado neatly beside each other in the bowl.
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Stir the vinegar into the remaining sauce, then drizzle it over the bowl. Garnish with pumpkin seeds and the scallion.
Use traditionally brewed soy sauce for the glaze, not the chemically hydrolyzed kind. Check the ingredients: soybeans, wheat, salt, water. The fermentation process that produces traditionally brewed soy sauce creates polysaccharides that a 1990 study linked to tripling iron absorption from rice (3.3×, P = 0.0002). Chemically produced soy sauce skips that fermentation entirely.
The avocado in this bowl pulls double duty. A 2005 trial found that avocado fat enhanced beta-carotene absorption 2.6× and lycopene absorption 4.4× (P < 0.003). The raw carrot and spinach sitting alongside those avocado slices are the carotenoid sources that benefit.
Soy sauce + rice: 3.3× iron absorption · DOIWhy This Works
Behind this recipe
Can I use white rice instead of brown?
Yes. The soy sauce iron absorption mechanism works with any rice. Brown rice has more non-heme iron (0.8 mg per 100g vs 0.2 mg for white rice) and significantly more fiber, but the 3.3× absorption boost from fermented soy sauce applies to both. The vinegar in the finishing sauce also blunts the glycemic response of either type.
Why frozen Brussels sprouts instead of fresh?
Frozen vegetables are flash-frozen at peak ripeness, locking in nutrients and skipping the cleaning and trimming of fresh sprouts. They also roast well from frozen: the ice crystals on the surface evaporate quickly at 400°F, leaving behind a dry surface that actually browns faster than fresh sprouts, which release moisture gradually.
Is 25 grams of protein enough for dinner?
This bowl's protein comes from brown rice, pumpkin seeds, and spinach, landing at an 11% protein-to-energy ratio. That is below what concentrated protein sources deliver. The tradeoff is 22 grams of fiber from Brussels sprouts, rice, avocado, and pumpkin seeds. Whether protein density or fiber density matters more depends on what the rest of the day looks like.
Can I make the glaze less spicy?
The Sriracha is 1 teaspoon (5 ml), which is already mild. For zero heat, swap it for an equal amount of rice vinegar or a squeeze of lime juice. The honey and soy sauce carry the sticky character and caramelization without any capsaicin.
