Makeover on an Underestimated Veg

I went back to Eveleigh markets last weekend and picked up a huge bag of Brussel sprouts. God know why, I’ve never cooked with them and I’m pretty sure I didn’t like them as a kid.

I think I had a Barney Stinson moment and saw a challenge sitting in a bag of cruciferous sprouts and accepted it wholeheartedly. It was only on my way home that I remembered an amazing side dish of brussel sprouts I’d had at Porteno one night and thought that perhaps my sprout purchase was based on a subconscious food memory.

I wasn’t about to ruin the Porteno experience by attempting to recreate their masterpiece, so instead I took inspiration from one of my favourite food blogs 101 cookbooks and tweaked this amazing brussel sprout recipe from Heidi Swanson. She claims it will revert sceptics of this veg which has been given a pretty harsh rap in the flavour department and I would have to agree.

I found Heidi’s recipe didn’t get the brussel sprouts soft enough before they browned so I reworked it a little and replaced the olive oil with coconut oil for a little more flavour.

Golden-Crusted Brussel Sprouts



Ingredients

12 small brussels sprouts cut in half

1 teaspoon of coconut oilfine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Method 

Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and place in a stemer for 5 minutes until almost tender (you don’t want them too soft as they still have to go in the pan).

Heat 1 teaspoon of coconut oil in your saucepan over medium heat.

Place the brussels sprouts in the saucepan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they're tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese.

Why is this good for me?

Brussel sprouts contain nitrogen compunds called indoles and significant amounts of Vitamin C which maximise their amazing cancer inhibiting potential. The Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant to fight off free radicals and also works as an immune booster which is perfect at this time of year. As an added bonus brussel sprouts also supply good amounts of folate, vitamin K and potassium.