Brussels sprouts ruined every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for the first thirty years of my life. It was a rule, in my parents’ house, that everyone had to eat one Brussels sprout at Thanksgiving dinner and another at Christmas dinner. I dreaded Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. 🙁

Brussels Sprouts were bitter, soggy and all around YUCKY. It didn’t help that they also came frozen and then my mother boiled them. My stomach would lurch. I’d grimace. My family would laugh, but show no mercy. It had to be swallowed. It usually took two bites. Although Brussels Sprouts were number one on my most hated foods list, there were other foods on the list, too: lima beans, pancakes, corn, and maple syrup. But! Lima beans, pancakes, corn, and maple syrup didn’t constitute a power struggle with my parents—Brussels sprouts did.

I was thirty years old before I had the wherewithal to refuse to eat one more Brussels sprout. When I put down my fork that Christmas, I didn’t pick it up again, for any Brussels sprout, for another twenty years.  Whatever possessed me to try Brussels sprouts again, I don’t know, but when I was fifty years old I found out Brussels sprouts could be rendered edible if they were fresh and roasted. 

Buy fresh Brussels sprouts, preferably on the stalk, and preferably after the first frost—Brussels sprouts that have been nipped by frost are sweeter; who knew? Old green beans don’t taste good, neither do old carrots or old mushrooms. Cook the Brussels sprouts soon after harvest, and roast them using the recipe below which is based on a recipe I found at Epicurious.com in 2004. They’re GOOD!

Of all my hated foods, the only one left on the list is lima beans. And I’m afraid that I raised my kids to hate them, too. I told them they never, ever, ever have to eat a lima bean. Then, wouldn’t you know, a very nice, very personable college boy takes a liking to one of my daughters. After awhile, he invites her over to his parents farm to have lunch with his parents. His parents are lima bean farmers, ROFL!!  She had to have lima beans for lunch! Fortunately, the relationship didn’t progress much further than the lima bean lunch 🙂

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 2 oz. pancetta, minced—2 oz. thick, good quality bacon can be substituted
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine OR chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. In a bowl, toss together sprouts, pancetta, garlic, oil, wine and salt and pepper to taste. Pour into a shallow baking pan.  Make sure the Brussels sprouts are laying flat in a single layer.
3. Roast Brussels sprouts for 15 minutes. 
4. Remove from oven, then turn the sprouts over, and roast for an additional 15 minutes.
5. Serve hot. 

Makes four servings.

Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today! Go ahead! Try these Brussels sprouts! You won’t be disappointed!