BRUSSELS SPROUTS

Brussels sprouts are a vegetable you either love or hate.  It suddenly occurred to me why people find the taste too sharp.  I had recently made a stir-fry with it and for the first time noticed the huge difference in flavour between the core and the leaves.  The core is spicy and sharp and not that tasty.  I remember watching a cooking show where the chef just used the leaves of the Brussels sprouts.  Now I know why.

I think it is best to look at a Brussels sprout as a mini cabbage.  If you wanted to get the best out of your cabbage, you would remove the outer leaves, quarter and cut away the core.  I would do the same for Brussels sprouts.  In essence you would be left with the leaves and that would cook in five minutes or less.  That way you could cook it just like cabbage with a knob or butter, salt and pepper or add it to an earthy lentil soup for a warming lunch.

Harvest vegetables with pomegranate vinaigrette would be a light side dish for this Thanksgiving weekend.  Roasting brings out the natural sweetness and creates beautiful carmelization.  It offsets perfectly with the acid of balsamic vinegar for a tasty autumn side dish.   A colourful combination could be sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, of course.  Longo's has Pomegranate Sparkling Fruit Juice and their own make of Roasted Garlic & Shallot Grilling oil.  Coupled with a good Balsamic Vinegar and tossing all the vegetables together and you would have the beginnings of a tasty dish.  Spread it all on parchment paper on a baking sheet and let it roast for 30-45 minutes.  Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and serve.  That's the skinny version of a Brussels sprout side dish worth about 4 points.

Now if you really want to treat yourself to something rich and delish, try Rachael Ray's recipe of Brussels Sprouts with Bacon.  She uses bacon, olive oil, shallot and chicken broth.  First you brown bacon in a skillet over medium high heat.  Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.  Add her EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) to the pan.... 1 turn of the pan as she says.  Add shallots and saute 1 or 2 minutes.  Then you add the Brussels sprouts and coat them in oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook Brussels sprouts for a minute to begin to soften and then add chicken broth.  Bring broth to a bubble and cover and reduce heat to medium low cooking until tender which should be very fast since you have now taken out the core of the Brussels sprouts.  When you serve them, top with the cooked bacon bits.  Sounds delish and I have no idea what the point value is of this dish but how bad can it be?  Of course, frying in bacon and olive oil isn't great but we also used oil in the roasted harvest vegetable dish. 

I would guess a serving of either of these Brussels sprouts recipes would be about 1 cup.