Cruciferous vegetables are all the rage. Check the menus: The Sample Room in Northeast Minneapolis serves a terrific roasted vegetable salad with grilled Brussels sprouts over spinach; Café Lurcat offers a luscious roasted cauliflower side.

It’s an unlikely trend. But local chefs—including Brian Hauke at Red Stag Supperclub—know how to handle these ingredients better than your mother ever did.

These are not the pale, pungent, and waterlogged things we were forced to eat in our youth. (Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, kale—anything in the mustard family is “cruciferous.”) They’re the very definition of “good for you,” but now there’s proof that these veggies are also good.

Take the Red Stag’s kale, for instance, one of the most popular items on the menu. Destemmed, shocked in cold water, and braised to perfection, it’s finished with a drizzle of olive oil and lots of lemon zest. To the citrusy dressing, Hauke adds a dusting of Maldon salt. Eating this dish is a little like forking up spaghetti, only better—chewy and emerald green, with rich, foresty flavor.

The Red Stag also serves a ravioli made of handmade pasta, chopped roasted cauliflower, and ricotta cheese. These soft little pockets are sautéed in a pan with brown butter and shallots. A little Swiss chard is thrown in near the end, just as the ravioli finishes cooking.

“March is one of the best months to get these vegetables out of California,” says Hauke. “And they’re not only great for you in terms of nutrition, they have simple, deep, natural flavors that really complete a meal.”


Red Stag Supperclub
503 1st Avenue NE, Minneapolis
612-767-7766
redstagsupperclub.com

Small Bites

• The former Goodfellow’s space in Minneapolis’s City Center goes back to its even earlier roots with the April opening of Forum—a reference to the Forum Cafeteria that operated there from 1930 to 1976. Ringo Restaurants, owned by Jim and Sheila Ringo, is refurbishing and updating the art deco interior with design firm Shea.

• Lowertown in St. Paul gets its first standalone wine bar: Bin. Proprietor Rebecca Illingworth planned a mid-February opening.

• The Parasole group’s Good Earth restaurants in Roseville and Edina have launched a delivery service (minimum order $100, $15 for delivery) for business and private events.

—Denise Logeland