Roasted Balsamic Brussel Sprouts

Wait...what?!?  Brussel sprouts?  Yes, it's true.  Believe me - I didn't EVER think I would be eating brussel sprouts, let alone blogging about them!  But, I have recently fallen in love with these little mini cabbages and can't wait for you to try this delicious recipe.  I have to tell you - I'm pretty sure I had never tried a brussel sprout until this past year when I was in Denver visiting some dear friends.  We went to an amazing restaurant (Root Down), and when brussel sprouts came as a side with my friend's entree, I sheepishly asked if I may try one.  I was so excited that I loved it!  Good thing my friend was sitting across from me, or I may have snuck one or two more off his plate!

Once home, I investigated simple preparation methods, many of them found on Pinterest (don't you love that site?!).  I also received a few organic produce shipments that contained brussel sprouts and I needed to figure out what to do with them.  To be honest, I was a little intimidated by the mysterious vegetables that so many people seemed to loathe.  I didn't want to cover them with cheese sauce (although that does sound yummy on cold, rainy days such as this one), and I didn't want to steam or boil them for fear they would be a soggy mess.  Thanks to several suggestions and recipe ideas, I combined a few of each to come up with the recipe that follows.

Ingredients:

1 pound (give or take) fresh brussel sprouts

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1.5 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 or 4 cloves of minced or grated garlic (the more the better!)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

ONE: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Trim off any wilted external leaves.  You will know you are pulling off the wilted ones because they come off easily.  I also found it easy to remove leaves by trimming a little off the bottom root of the sprout.  The roots looked a little brown to me anyway, so trimming it seemed the right thing to do.  After removing wilted leaves, cut each brussel sprout in half.





I just love the color of these beautiful little vegetables!

TWO: Place halved brussel sprouts in a large mixing bowl and add olive oil, vinegar, and garlic.  Toss the spouts with the oil/vinegar mixture until evenly coated.  In a 9x13 baking dish, arrange the sprouts cut side up in a single layer and sprinkle with salt and pepper.



This is how the sprouts look once tossed with the olive olive oil and vinegar/garlic and sprinkled with S&P.  They are ready to pop in the oven!

THREE: Place sprouts in oven and roast for about 20 minutes or until browned on the surface.  Carefully flip the spouts over (cut side down) with tongs and roast for another 10-15 minutes until nicely browned and tender.  I made sure to try one of the bigger ones before taking them all out of the oven.

Roasting them in the oven like this allows them to get tender throughout but browned and slightly crispy on the outside.  They were so delicious looking that even my five year-old tried them (and ate a few too!).  They make a terrifc side dish and are full of nutrients.  Try this super mini cabbages tonight and tell me what you think in the comments below!

While I used a combination of several recipes, the one on Noob Cook inspired me most.