I generally haven’t had kind thoughts about brussels sprouts. On the other hand, my husband loves them. To me, they have no saving graces. To my husband, they can do no wrong.
Up until last night, brussels sprouts were on my “Eat Only Under Duress” list, aka my “Eat Only Under Penalty of Excruciatingly Painful Death” list. After much deliberation and thoughtful consideration, I am now fostering more kindly thoughts about these little green…marvels. It is so surprising that with a few simple ingredients and some oven roasting, brussels sprouts have actually found a place in my food rotation.
Not over-cooking a brussels sprout is key to its flavor. At the crisp-tender stage, there is no unpleasant sulfur-type taste and no stinky house. Amazing! Last night I roasted brussels sprouts with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a little salt and pepper. A miracle happened and I couldn’t stop eating them. Sometimes I am so weird.
My favorite part was eating the portions of the sprouts where the olive oil had made the outside leaves on some of them get all crispy. These are quite tasty – give them a try.
Roasted Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh brussels sprouts
- good quality extra virgin olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375-degees F. Oil a baking pan well; set aside.
- Remove any damaged or discolored outer leaves from Brussels sprouts. Trim stem-end. Cut brussels sprouts in half lengthwise.
- In a medium-sized bowl, put sprouts and coat well with extra virgin olive oil. Toss sprouts to coat well.
- Sprinkle with salt and a little pepper, then toss to distribute well.
- Pour some balsamic vinegar over the brussels sprouts and toss. The balsamic will not stick well to the brussels sprouts because of the olive oil. Not to worry, more balsamic can be added following roasting.
- Place brussels sprouts, cut side down, on the well oiled baking pan. Roast in oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and turn each sprout over so that the cut side is facing up. Return pan to oven and roast the sprouts for an additional 10-15 minutes, until lightly caramelized on the surface.
- Serve with extra balsamic vinegar, to taste.
Look in the middle of that brussels sprout. Does that look like an alien to you? Could explain explain a lot, don’t you think?
LOL about the alien! These sprouts look yummy. I just recently decided to add Brussels Sprouts to our Thanksgiving menu…even if I’ll be the only one eating them 🙂
Lizzy–seriously! It looks like a little alien lying on its side with lots of arms growing out of it! Anyway, thanks for dropping by. I’d love to know how you are going to prepare your brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving–email me or post the recipe here.
These were yummy with the balsamic vinegar. Thanks.