Roasted Brussels Sprouts

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my husband wrinkled his nose when I brought home brussels sprouts in my Bountiful Basket. I had volunteered that day and they had so many extra brussels sprouts they said if any of the volunteers wanted more they could take brussels sprouts plus another extra.

I guess I should explain about volunteering here. Bountiful Baskets runs solely on volunteer work. Even the site coordinators are volunteers. As a rule of thumb, the BB website suggests that you volunteer once for every six baskets you buy. Really, it's the least you can do for all that awesome produce they give you for such a low price! It's not hard. All you do is show up an hour early to your site, help unload the truck, distribute the produce among the baskets, and help participants get their baskets and add-ons. In return for volunteering, you get to pick one large extra or two small extras from whatever is in the baskets that week. A watermelon would be considered a large item, while a kiwi would be considered a small item.

Back to my brussels sprouts. I'd never had brussels sprouts before. I didn't dare take extra ones. What if we didn't like them? What if they turned out to be as yucky as kid folklore made them out to be? I stuck with the ones I already had. When I got home I immediately checked the BB facebook page to see what people were saying about brussels sprouts. Most people claimed that roasting was the way to go. I did a little more searching and I found Ina Garten's recipe on foodnetwork.com. It seemed simple enough, so I went for it. Everyone on facebook was right. Roasting is the way to cook brussels sprouts! I also read somewhere that they're good with balsamic vinegar. We love vinegar anyway, so it seemed like a great fit for us. I just put the vinegar out on the table and let everyone put as little or as much as they liked on their own brussels sprouts. My in-laws had come over for dinner that night, and everyone (including Bud) raved about how delicious they were. Now each week Bud hopes that I will bring home brussels sprouts.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

from foodnetwork.com 

1 1/2 lbs. brussels sprouts
3 Tbs. olive oil
3/4 tsp. kosher salt (I used sea salt)
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the brown ends of the brussels sprouts and pull off any yellow outer leaves. Cut large ones in half, leave small ones whole. Mix them in a bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them on a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Shake the pan from time to time to brown the sprouts evenly. Sprinkle with more kosher salt, and serve immediately. Serve with balsamic vinegar, if desired.