Tasty Tuesday: Brussel Sprouts With Bacon

You already know how much I love brussel sprouts, so don't act surprised. But the last time I mentioned them, I proposed a challenge, and no one followed-through. 

I'll admit it - sprouts aren't the sexiest vegetable. For some reason, they have a really bad rap (kids in movies and on TV are always complaining about them). But I promise you that they are delicious. And in this case, decadent.

Ingredients:

• Bacon

This was in the freezer - it's not expired meat

• Brussel sprouts

• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions:

• Bake some bacon - Are you still frying bacon? STOP IT. It's messy, and the pieces are never uniformly cooked, and they don't lie flat. Put your bacon in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Then flip it and cook for another 10 minutes. You will thank me.
• Halve the sprouts - While the bacon is cooking, cut your sprouts in half lengthwise.

• Blanch the sprouts - Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and dump the sprouts in. Let them cook in the boiled water for no more than 5 minutes. They will turn a lovely BRIGHT green. After 5 minutes, dump them in a strainer and shake off some of the extra water. 

• Chop the bacon - By now, the bacon is probably done cooking. Remove it from the oven and save the grease. Chop the bacon into little bits, then set it aside.

• Saute the Sprouts - Okay, now you can use your frying pan. Sautee the sprouts in the pan with some of the grease from your bacon. We actually save our bacon grease in a container in the fridge, so I can cook stuff in bacon grease whenever I want. In this case, I just poured the grease from the baking sheet into the pan. Cook the sprouts for about 10 minutes, depending on your preferred doneness. I like to get the outsides golden, but not brown.

Cook all of the things in bacon grease!

• Put them in a bowl - Remove from heat and put them in/on some type of serving dish.
• Add bacon and toss.

See? Vegetables don't have to be healthy.