Food Pairings 101

Certain foods play well with others, while others lose strength in pairs.

Do Mix Grilled Steak and Brussels Sprouts

It turns out that certain compounds in Brussels sprouts (and other cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower) may help rid the body of carcinogens that can form on meat during high-heat cooking. That said, loading up on these vegetables doesn’t give you license to char meat, chicken, or fish on the barbecue. “It’s always best to cook meat or fish at low temperatures until it’s done,” says Kristin E. Anderson, Ph.D., a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health and Cancer Center, in Minneapolis. “And if there are burned pieces, trim them off.”