There are good Brussels sprouts and there are bad Brussels sprouts. These are good Brussels sprouts! This recipe has only three ingredients (not counting salt and pepper).
I don’t remember having Brussels sprouts before I married my husband. As I began cooking for us, though, he said that he liked them. Eventually, I brought myself to try the cruciferous vegetable. Occasionally, I hit on some good ones and an okay recipe, so the end product was all right. Sometimes I got some awful ones, and they were just BAD! I happy to say that since I discovered this recipe, I really enjoy Brussels sprouts!
CHOOSING BRUSSELS SPROUTS
When you’re buying Brussels sprouts, you want to look for firm, compact, fresh heads. Avoid tough or woody ones. This is one vegetable that I only buy fresh rather than frozen. That’s not to say they can’t be frozen. It’s just that in my experience, you don’t really know what you’re getting with frozen ones.
Cruciferous vegetables such as Brussels sprouts have anti-inflammatory properties among many other health benefits.
RECIPE INSPIRATION
I didn’t really get excited about cooking Brussels sprouts until I started following the recipe in Mark Bittman’s book, How to Cook Everything. (*affiliate link) His simple recipe put me onto the braising and glazing idea. I adapted it to make the dish dairy-free by using avocado oil instead of butter. While Mark’s recipe calls for chicken stock, using vegetable broth makes it vegan. Learn to make your own nutritious bone broth here.
ONE-VEGETABLE RECIPES
I really like simple, one-vegetable recipes. While some great creations consist of multiple vegetables, that’s not the way I usually cook – unless that dish is the star of the meal. When preparing several dishes for a meal, it’s easiest on the cook to make one “star” dish and keep the sides simple. Believe me, it took me years of slaving over big dinners to figure this out!
I also like to find a recipe for a single vegetable when that’s the only vegetable I have in the house at the time. I usually keep garlic and onions on hand. Otherwise, I find it wasteful to buy whole vegetables and use a stalk of this or half of that. Sure, I find other uses for the rest, but doing that before they go bad can be challenging.
How about you? Do you like to have a repertoire of single-vegetable recipes that can really make each one of them sing? You can find single-vegetable recipes for carrots here and broccoli here.
Braised and Glazed Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts
- 3 tablespoons avocado oil
- 1/2 cup broth or stock (use vegetable stock for vegan)
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
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Wash the Brussels sprouts, and trim a little off the bottom taking any nasty outer leaves with it.
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Combine all ingredients into a wide pan and cover. Bring to a boil; then simmer 5 to 10 minutes until the Brussels sprouts are just tender.
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Remove the lid and allow the liquid to boil off. Watch them very closely, so your pan doesn't boil dry. You don't need to stir them much. Allow them to brown on one or two sides.
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