I’m a foodie. I like to eat, I like to experiment with cooking, and when there is nothing else to watch the Food Network is my natural time filler. And one thing that I’ve noticed on the Food Network lately is a number of shows highlighting brussel sprouts as a side dish and doing anything but steaming/boiling them. Due to my parents’ shared dislike of them, I never had either the pleasure or misfortune of eating them as a kid and thus far it hasn’t really come up as an adult.
Until now.
After noting yet another show where oven-broiled sprouts was on the menu, I mentioned to my wife that it might be interesting to try it (she HAS had them, but it had been decades). Fast forward to the next day and my wife is IM’ing me at work to let me know that dinner will be chicken and brussel sprouts. Fast forward another hour later and I’m home with a full plate including a nice juicy chicken breast and a generous helping of slightly charred little balls of green.
I have to say that I did in fact like them a lot. They tasted like little grilled cabbages – not too pungent, not too bland, just enough salt and a slightly nutty flavor. On the down side, my kids did not seem nearly as thrilled with them (which is a bit odd as they both LOVE broccoli and cauliflower). So the likelihood of this veggie being in regular rotation is fairly low. Ah well. At least I gave it a shot.
My favorite way of fixing them:
cut them in half and blanch them in boiling water,
heat oil in a pan an add chopped green onions and garlic
add curry powder and some coconut milk to the pan,
then add the sprouts, they don’t need to cook long.
Imagine that with seasoned short-ribs, sweet coconut rice and slices of mango.
That sounds really awesome. I may have to try that.