I know many people who declare that they do not like Brussels Sprouts - sprouts being a challenging vegetable to love. I imagine that many of the haters were once fed sprouts which were boiled to mush. Those are not sprouts given to happy eating experiences. Plus those mushy boiled-to-death sprouts give off a rather offputting odour that lingers in the house for weeks.
EWWWWW
Roasting brussels sprouts, on the other hand, brings out their deep nutty flavor. In fact, I've seen roasted brussels sprouts convert more than one avowed brussels sprouts-hater into a brussels sprouts-lover.
A few weeks ago I was out for dinner with a colleague for for some reason this came up in our conversation. I know that is an odd choice for dinner conversation, particularly in a Vietnamese restaurant where sprouts were not on the menu. We could have been gossiping or trashing colleagues but instead we were discussing our favourite foods - far happier a conversation IMHO. She mentioned how her favourite roasted sprout recipe used sesame oil - this got me craving some roasted brussels sprouts with sesame oil.
After I returned home from our adventure I turned to google and found this recipe which was published by the Washington Post a couple of weeks ago. Sure enough they proved to be every bit as tasty as my colleague had said that they would be!
The only change I made in the recipe was to sprinkle the roasted sprouts with some toasted sesame seeds.
Tamari Roasted Brussels Sprouts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tamari
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon southeast asian fish sauce (optional)
3 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and quartered
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Have one or two large rimmed baking sheets at hand.
Whisk together the oil, tamari, sesame oil and fish sauce, if using, in a small bowl.
Spread the Brussels sprouts on the baking sheet(s); keep them to one layer, with room for air circulation in between the sprouts. Drizzle the tamari mixture over them and toss to coat. Roast, shaking the pan every 5 minutes or so, until the vegetables are crisp and browned, about 20 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
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