brussel sprouts.

Happy Wednesday!

I have a very special treat for you today.

I know I'm always experimenting with weird (disgusting to some) ingredients in the kitchen...but this time even I was shocked at the tasty outcome.

I did it.

I made and liked brussel sprouts.

I didn't think it could be done.

Let me share with you the brief history of my relationship with these little green demons.

Experience #1: circa 2003. I was in high school. Laura's mom, an amazing Italian woman who cooked for us kids non-stop, had us over for dinner. Zelyne, Laura, and I sat around the table excitedly awaiting the arrival of what we were sure would be a mountain of pasta and meatballs.

Enter the plate of brussel sprouts.

You might not believe it, but up until that point I had never had a single brussel sprout in my very long 15 years of life.

They smelled like a fart. I put one in my mouth.

Long story short...tasted like a fart too.

Experience #2: circa 2011. Earlier this year I went on a trip to Lake Tahoe with some friends. I had successfully avoided a recurrence of the brussel sprout episode of 2003 up until this point. But when our good friend Andrea offered to cook up dinner with her boyfriend Zeph, how could we resist?

Enter the bowl of brussel sprouts and bacon.

I don't know what she did to those little sprouts, but with the addition of bacon they suddenly became edible. Enjoyable even.

Experience #3: circa Monday. I'll admit...even after the successful brussel sprouts and bacon experience I was nervous. But I figured there's no time like the present to tackle the seemingly impossible. I gave myself a little pep talk, promised Jeremy if they turned out disgusting I'd never make him eat another brussel sprout again, and began cooking. I found this delicious recipe on The Little Red House blog and since nothing Sheena (author) writes about ever tastes anything but delicious...I gave it a go.

This was the result.

It was amazing and delicious and I didn't even need to add bacon.

Here's the really simply recipe:

Mix up brussel sprouts, 1 or 2 T olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on baking sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees. You want the sprouts to be a little brown.

Add roasted sprouts to salad greens. Put in a little avocado, onion, a fried egg on top and voila!

If you'd like to add some dressing. Mix up a honey mustard dressing or use your favorite store bought. I mixed honey, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and olive oil.
Plus some S & P.

Shake it up in a jar and pour over salad.

Yum.

Last but not least, serve it with whatever else you like. In our case...that happened to be steak with blue cheese crumbles on top!

Delish in a dish.