Brussel Sprouts – the vegetable you thought you would never eat.
For most of my life, nobody could get me to touch Brussel sprouts with a ten-foot pole. The way I was used to (being forced) to eat them was after they were boiled. They stunk and they were slimy. Eeew! Doesn’t that make you want to eat one now? One of the things I realized when I incorporated more vegetables into my diet as well as changing the way I cook for the most part is that it makes all the difference in the world how a food is cooked in order to make it appetizing. The technique used can change the entire dish from flavor to presentation.
Roasting vegetables is a fantastic way to bring out flavors, and carmelize any bitterness our of less than sweet veggies.
For a while, I was just making these babies at home for our family and my kids were actually eating them. Yay! Then I brought them over to a holiday dinner with our extended family and people started asking for the recipe. Never did I actually think people would want a Brussel sprouts recipe. Cracks me up. These are good though if I must say so myself. I even eat them cold. Hey, it’ s better than boiled, slimy and stinky!
The cranberries add the complementary color red to a bed of green and they also add a tartness to the sweeter balsamic glaze.
This is a great side dish for Thanksgiving as well as Christmas or any holiday really. As I said, this is actually a staple side dish in our home. It is simple and flavorful.
Word to the wise – don’t, I repeat don’t, leave the bacon out of these. The texture helps to add crunch and of course, there is no match for the taste of bacon.
- 2 lbs. Brussel sprouts, roots cut off and cut in half
- ¾ c. fresh or frozen, whole cranberries
- 2 Tlbs. bacon fat
- 2 Tlbs. Organic Balsamic Vinegar (grapes are one the highest in pesticides- get organic if you can)
- ½ tsp. sea salt (or more to taste)
- ⅛ tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. honey
- 4 pieces of nitrate/nitrite free bacon, cooked and crumbled.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put prepared Brussel sprouts in a mixing bowl along with the cranberries.
- In a separate smaller bowl add bacon fat, balsamic vinegar, salt, garlic powder and honey. Stir (or whisk) together to combine.
- Pour glaze mixture over the Brussel sprouts and cranberries and toss until all the sprouts are coated well.
- Put the glazed Brussel Sprouts onto a sheet pan lined with a silpat.
- Pop them in the oven for 30 minutes. At thirty minutes they should have some brown on them from the roasting process. If they don't have very much, toss them to mix them up a bit and continue to cook them for up to 15 minutes more.
- Once you have removed them from the oven toss the cooked sprouts with the bacon pieces. You are ready to serve your dish!
Why should you even try to eat one of these cruciferous mini cabbages?
There are a lot of reasons but here are a few for starters:
- They pack a vitamin C punch and have high levels of vitamin A as well as vitamin K and B vitamins.
- They are also a wonderful source of potassium.
- Thyroid suffers take heart – Brussel Sprouts are goitrogenic BUT when they are cooked there is no need to worry because the goitrogens are eliminated.
This recipe is AIP friendly and GAPS/SCD friendly (if your Balsamic does not have any sugar in it)
Try these. I promise you will like them!
Brussels sprouts…I’m nervous :/ Since eating paleo I have tried a couple different Brussels sprouts recipes, and they’ve all been great. Roasting really does give this veggie a better taste.
This recipe also looks delicious! This just might be my Thanksgiving vegetable side dish…my mother in law would be so impressed if I brought something other than the standard green bean casserole…hahaha!