recipe: roasted brussels sprouts! (paleo)

I owe brussels sprouts an apology.

When I first went paleo about five years ago, I committed to cooking with one new vegetable a week.  My dad has always been a picky eater, so there were a ton of things I never tried as a child.  Also, this was 2010, so it was before kale got super popular.  

Brussels sprouts were one of those things that I never tried AND never wanted to try. My mother made them every Thanksgiving because she and my grandma like them, but nothing about them was appealing.  However, eating paleo introduced me to tons of foods I never knew I loved (like cabbage and cauliflower), so I figured, why not Brussels sprouts? 

Well.  I made a Brussels sprouts recipe from a Paleo site that had NEVER failed me. Bacon was even involved. And it was a spectacular fail.  The dish came out technically fine, but I still had such a strong dislike for the poor lil sprouts, I could not eat it.

Fast forward to 2015, and I have finally found a way that I LOVE eating these mini cabbages.  It is similar to my kale chips recipe, and the only way I have found that I like the texture of Brussels sprouts!

the final product, served alongside a grass-fed burger and sauteed tomatoes

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Serves: 4 (or 2 hungry/sprouts obsessed friends)
Time: 10 min prep (mostly chopping); 10-12 min to bake

Ingredients:

• 1 lb brussels sprouts, rinsed, quartered (don't worry if the outer leaves fall off when cutting... I actually like them better that way!)
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 - 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• additional salt or garlic salt, to taste

Process:

• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. (my oven is super strong, so I go with 400. Moral of the story, know your oven.)
• If you haven't already, rinse and cut your brussels sprouts. Quartering them results in more crispy pieces, which I LOVE.
• Lay out your sprouts on a baking sheet.
• Drizzle oils onto sprouts.
• Add spices to sprouts.
• Mix up the sprouts with your hands. If you don't like getting messy, you could do this all in a bowl, but I think it mixes more evenly my way.
• Roast in oven for 10-12 minutes, to desired level of crisp.  Again, know your oven, but also know your tastes. I like my sprouts just over the line of crispy into well-done (see photo above).

Ready to roast!

What's your favorite way to eat Brussels sprouts? Any foods you've come to love after a longstanding dislike? Anything you still avoid?  I'd love to hear about it!