Seasonal Celebrity Spotlight: Brussels Sprouts

Have you been burned in the past by the brussels sprout?  Try to forgive and forget for the season, at least, and give them a second chance.

Brussels sprouts get a bad rep because they're usually cooked incorrectly -- overcooking is the most common, and least tasty, mistake made when preparing these cute little cabbages.

My favorite way to prepare them is roasted:

1.5 lbs brussels sprouts

3 T olive oil (or grapeseed or whatever you have)

.5 to 1 t sea salt

.5 to 1 t ground black pepper

First, cut of any excess stalks on the individual little guys and remove any undesirable outer leaves.

If you want to roast them whole -- the core cooks slower than the leaves so cut an "X" into the bottom with the cross of the X centered in the leftover stalk part.

If you want them halved (better in my opinion), then do that.

Put the prepped sprouts in a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the spices, then toss so that they're evenly coated.

Bake at 400 on preferably a shallow dish or even better a cookie sheet, for 30 to 40 minutes!

THEN try to tell me you don't like brussels sprouts, and we'll talk about it.

Besides being heavenly and adorable, brussels sprouts are great for your bod.  They are part of the Brassica (aka the mustard) family (with broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, mustard greens, turnips, kale, cauliflower, radishes, etc. etc.).  All members of the Brassica family are cool weather crops -- which means for us in the Midwest they are freshly in season during the Spring/early Summer and Fall/NOW (and not when the weather is too hot mid-Summer).

All of these tasty veggies are full of sulforaphane, which is an anti-cancer agent, as well as a bunch of Vitamin C (also shows to reduce cancer), Vitamin A, folic acid, and PROTEIN (more than 25% of their calories)!  They are a very low-cal and low-fat source, in fact -- though they don't provide the full-spectrum of the essential amino acids, they can be completed with a side of whole grains!

Selecting your little cabbages:

• Look for firm, tight, bright-green headed sprouts -- preferably on the smaller-side.  Some say that smaller sprouts are sweeter but I'm not sure about that -- I DO know that sprouts which have been frosted before harvesting ARE indeed sweeter.
• Avoid brussels sprouts that are dull in color, puffy, wilted and/or soft.
• Try to get a bunch that are all like-sized so that they cook evenly.

You can keep them stored in the fridge for a few days, or freeze them for up to 2 weeks -- some say 5 weeks but I'm skeptical.

So, now to dispel the myth that brussels sprouts are disgusting.

When over-cooked, brussels release glucosinolate sinigrin -- which is responsible for the sulfurous taste and odor for over-boiled, mushy, gray brussels sprouts.

Glucosinolate sinigrin is also responsible for the bitterness of cauliflower and broccoli and brussels -- which I've experienced being stronger in veg grown conventionally and pumped full of synthetic Nitrogen fertilizers -- over organic crops, which tend to be sweeter, perhaps because they were grown on mineral-balanced, organic soils...?

If you choose to boil over roast, only do so for 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size of the heads to avoid overcooking and sulfur stink.

So, I dare you to give them a try.  Or a second, or third.  Or perhaps one of their Brassica cousins -- since they're all currently in season!