Side Dish in 20 Minutes

Today, a good all purpose side dish that’s stupidly easy. This is my lame version of roasted brussels sprouts, in which I have tried and failed to duplicate what they do at Legume. Mine are good, but not quite that good. I’ll even do a vegetarian version in addition to the one with bacon.

First, buy some fresh brussels sprouts. We’ve been getting the ones still attached to a large branch that they have at Whole Foods. You can also get the pre-bagged kind. I won’t hold it against you.

Trim the sprouts and cut them in half. If you are going all veggie, put them in bowl and drizzle them down with olive oil. Then add salt and pepper. Lay the result out on a half sheet pan and broil at 400 degrees for around 15-20 minutes. While they cook, open the oven up once in a while and shake the pan.

OK. Here is the bacon variant:

0. 400 degree oven.

1. Cast iron pan.

2. A few pieces of bacon.

3. Put the bacon in the pan. Get it about 1/3rd cooked. Take the bacon out of the pan and put it in the oven for a while. Put the sprouts into the pan and coat with some of the bacon fat. Add salt and pepper. When the bacon is 1/2 to 2/3rds of the cooked, take it out of the oven and put it on top of the sprouts.

4. Put the whole mess back in the oven for 10-15min.

That’s it. Put it on a plate. Eat with rice. I like the bacon super crispy, so I cook it a lot in addition to blasting it with the sprouts. If you like it softer, adjust as needed.