MADE: Grilled Brussel Sprouts

Apparently, when I was little, I used to eat brussel sprouts all the time. Gobbled 'em up. Thought they were great. Then, one fateful day, my mother walked in on the horror of her oldest child eating brussel sprouts and shrieked "WHAT are you FEEDING her? Brussel sprouts? EEEEW." (N.B.: My aunt Marilou was the royal feeder in charge of my nutrition at this point in my life.) I apparently then threw the fork down and refused to eat brussel sprouts ever again.

This little piece of BlissandTell lore is at once a cautionary tale and an explanation for the current recipe. Cautionary tale: Children are ridiculously impressionable, and therefore perfect fodder for social experimentation.  Recipe explanation: Lately, I've been trying to overcome the food prejudices of my youth and experiment with ways of delectifying foods that once grossed me out. Hence, brussel sprouts.

While on a brief, glorious stop through Chicago recently, KPBH's roommate--who's prone to cooking extravaganzas of his own--was whipping up these grilled brussel sprouts, and offered me a taste. Delicious! Probably too delicious to actually be retaining any of the nutritive value of the original sprouts, but I can pretend. Also, they are ridiculously easy to make. So really, this is less a post meant to impress everyone with my cooking prowess and more a post for me to have a record for the recipe, so I won't have to send frantic text messages asking "Hey, can you send me that brussel sprout recipe PLZ? KThx. Lol."

Grilled Brussel Sprouts

1 1/2 lbs brussel sprouts

3 tbsp olive oil

3/4 tsp freshly ground sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 400 F.

Chop brown stem ends off of brussel sprouts and cut in half, lengthwise. Toss the brussel sprout halves into a big bowl and throw in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir and toss to thoroughly coat the sprouts, then pour them onto a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning occasionally so that all sides brown evenly. Remove when brussel sprouts are beginning to be brown and crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Devour.