Souped-Up Brussels Sprouts
So, you think you don’t like Brussels sprouts? I challenge you to try this recipe. Full disclosure: I have always loved this much maligned vegetable. Even as a 3-year-old child, I never objected to eating my Brussels sprouts; and that was back in the days when my mother boiled them. She now acknowledges that boiling Brussels sprouts is about the worst way to cook them, and she credits my generation for figuring out that they are way better when roasted in the oven or air fryer. My 3-year-old son similarly doesn’t object to being served Brussels sprouts, albeit he’s a weird child who refuses to eat pasta, pizza, or a hamburger, but delights in being served salmon and vegetables, go figure. While we are a family of Brussels sprouts lovers, I truly believe that this recipe will convert even the most fervent hater. It’s sweet and salty and savoury. My husband declared this recipe to be “the best Brussels sprouts I’ve ever had”.
As a cruciferous vegetable, Brussels sprouts are well worth regularly including in your diet. They are a good source of antioxidant carotenoids, Vitamins A, C, K, and a number of B Vitamins, sulforaphane, and alpha-linolenic acid. Consuming cruciferous vegetables, like Brussels sprouts, is believed to lower your risk of developing various types of cancer, help to regulate blood sugar, help to develop stronger bones, lower your risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and, importantly for those of us battling autoimmune disease, reduce systemic inflammation. There’s lots of good reasons to include these little beauties in your diet, so let’s turn to how we can make them absolutely delicious.
This recipe is naturally gluten free and can easily be made dairy free by omitting the Parmigiano-Reggiano or swapping nutritional yeast in its place.
Ingredients:
250 grams or approximately 2.5 cups Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
100 grams or approximately ½ apple (I used Honey Crisp, but any variety will do), medium-diced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp avocado oil
2 slices of turkey bacon (I used Hayter’s Farm; you can also use regular pork bacon, but this will increase the calories and fat in the recipe)
36 grams or approximately ¼ cup pecans, coarsely chopped (you can also substitute walnuts)
Salt and pepper, to taste (remember that you will be adding a salty cheese, so go easy on the salt)
1 tbsp maple syrup
45 grams Parmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated (I cannot more strongly recommend the Orblue zester/grater available from Amazon, it is the perfect tool for grating Parmigiano-Reggiano to the perfect fineness)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl, toss the Brussels sprouts, apple, and thyme with the avocado oil. Spread out the Brussels sprouts mixture in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. In the meantime, cook the turkey bacon in a frying pan until slightly crispy. Remove the turkey bacon from the frying pan and cut the turkey bacon horizontally into thin matchsticks. After the Brussels sprouts have baked for 25 minutes, add the chopped pecans, bacon, salt, and pepper to the Brussels sprouts mixture and stir with a heat resistant utensil to evenly distribute. Bake the mixture for an additional 10-15 minutes until golden. Remove the Brussels sprouts mixture from the oven and drizzle with maple syrup and sprinkle generously with Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Nutrition per serving (makes 4 servings):
200 calories
9.6 grams protein
3.8 grams fibre
12.9 grams fat
If you try the recipe and find that I have converted you from a Brussels sprouts hater to a Brussels sprouts fan, send me a message and let me know!
