The Sprouts of Wrath

Everyone knows that brussels sprouts aren’t exactly the most loved vegetable in the world. In fact, I’m fairly sure that most people have, at one stage or another (and usually during childhood) held some degree of loathing for these tightly furled little dark green bundles. I myself fell into this catagory…despite the fact that I had never actually eaten a brussels sprout before, the mere thought of them was enough to make me wrinkle my nose and make me turn my head in disgust.

That is, until they were served to me a few years ago at an ex-boyfriend’s mother’s house. They were served for lunch and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. I poked, I prodded, I cut one half and tentatively forked a piece into my mouth.

And quickly came back for more. It was delightful, containing the earthy ‘green’ flavour you get with greens such as silverbeet or brocolli, slightly nutty and even slightly sweet! Whoever would have thought that such a tiny vegetable could contain so much flavour.

However, this love was quickly forgotten in the face of my usual favourites and so brussels sprouts disappeared from my mind until last week, when, whilst browsing the aisles at my supermarket, I spotted these uber-cuties! Tight little heads, leaves furled, dark green and promising. I’d never cooked them before, but I couldn’t resist buying a small punnet.

So, I brought them home and started browsing for recipes. No particular one took my fancy, but I saw that onion and bacon seemed to feature in many recipes, so I took that as my starting point.

Mmmm, adorable little sprout halves!

Ellie’s Sprouts of Joy

Ingredients

12-15 brussels sprouts heads
1 medium white onion
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 strips streaky bacon
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 lemon

1. Prepare the brussels sprouts by cutting them in half and removing the tough outer leaves and carefully cutting out the core of the base as a triangle. Give them a good rinse to rid them of any dirt and put them aside for now.

2. Put a large pot of water on to boil and once the water is at a boiling roll, add the sprout halves and boil for about 5-10 minutes, however long it takes for the sprouts to become a bit soft but be wary of overcooking. Once they are cooked, quickly remove, refresh under cold running water and set aside.

3. Roughly dice the white onion and the bacon. Toss the chopped bacon into a frying pan and fry till nice and crisp, then remove from the pan, leaving behind the bacon fat. Fry the onion and garlic in the bacon fat till it has caramelised and become soft, then add the balsamic vinegar and stir through and fry till it has absorbed.

4. Toss in the sprouts and mix through till the juices from the onion and bacon have soaked through, squeeze the lemon juice over the top and serve

Look at how pretty those little sprout halves are!

[tags]brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, bacon[/tags]