Pairing Brussels sprouts with acid and fat can make the polarizing vegetable a winnereven with picky eaters.
My fathers electric steamer was a predictor of horror in my house.
In my early adulthood, I never even considered inviting them to be part of my dinners at home.
But the test kitchen team wowed me with recipes for vegetables,healthy grainsandeven soy protein.
Chief among my discoveries was that Brussels sprouts didnt have to be watery or bitter.
How did the formerly anxiety-inducing ingredient win me over?
Two simple components that had been desperately missing in my fathers preparations: acid and fat.
The basic recipe that got me started was roasted Brussels sprouts finished in balsamic vinegar with bacon.
That included making my own recipes and using existing ones.
Eventually, I landed on a favorite, originally published inDiabetic Living Magazine, now featured on EatingWell.com.
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Cider Vinegarclosely resembles one of my own improvisations that included pancetta and cider vinegar.
Sometimes I simmer the Brussels sprouts in salty water as is suggested in the original recipe.
I spray them with avocado oil, lightly salt them, then crisp them up for about 7 minutes.
I finish it with the sprinkle of crunchy bacon.
If he could subsist entirely on flaky Malaysian roti and rice pudding, he absolutely would.
Chicken on the bone was the first hurdle for him, but my choice of vegetable wasnt far behind.
Yet theres simply no arguing with that sweet and tangy sauce.
NPR.From Culinary Dud To Stud: How Dutch Plant Breeders Built Our Brussels Sprouts Boom.
