Monday, March 16, 2009

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I've gone and done it. Between the leftover chocolate cake that I polished off last night, the boxes of the best chocolates ever my mom sent from Ohio, and the daily visits to the local self-serve frozen yogurt wonderland (where I load my yogurt with none of the healthy toppings), I have officially overdosed on sweets. 

In other words, my body demanded a vegetable today. 

I had a bag of brussels sprouts in the fridge that I swear I planned to eat, you know, once all the chocolate was finished, so I decided to steam them up as usual. But I had just returned from the store with a bottle of balsamic vinegar, and I Love-with-a-capital-L balsamic vinegar, so I got online to find out how to combine the two.

If you don't already like brussels sprouts, I can't imagine that this recipe will convert you. I will, however, say that I thought this was really tasty and it will definitely be made in the cocina again. If you decide to try this, please let me know what you think. 

I also realize that, although brussels sprouts are green, this probably isn't the most festive thing to be posting on St. Patrick's Day, but I promise you, I do have a few very March-appropriate recipes in the queue, so please stay tuned. In the meantime, please have a green beer  in my honor.

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts

2 to 3 cups brussels sprouts, sliced in half
salt & pepper, to taste
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly incorporate the olive oil until a dressing is formed.
Place the brussels sprouts in a single layer in a baking dish. Drizzle the oil and vinegar over the sprouts and gently toss to coat.

Bake for 25 minutes, stirring once or twice. The sprouts are done when they are lightly browned.

3 comments:

  1. Well, I must admit that I DON'T like brussel sprouts, but this does sound good, so maybe I'll give it a whirl! :) You know, our grocery store is so terrible I can't even BUY brussel sprouts here!!!! We only get the "main" veggies here...strange, I know! I'll have to add this to the list of things to make when we move!

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  2. I tried it and I liked it. Thank you for a new way to prepare brussel sprouts. I was getting tired of the steamed BS. Now, for the diet I am on, I can't use oil, so I tried it sans oil and it was a 'little' dry and hard, is there a way I can trap more moisture in there? covering the dish? water?

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  3. I'll have to think on this one, but off the top of my head, you might try spritzing with non-stick cooking spray before roasting. Or maybe lightly steaming the sprouts first, and then roasting with the vinegar only? You may have to adjust roasting time, though - I'm not sure how this would turn out, though.

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