<p>i used to steam them but i kept messing them up. i would forget about them and then they’d be over steamed before i knew it. not only would the brussell sprouts be ruined then, but if i had left it unattended long enough the water would have boiled away and the pan would have burned too (occasionally i would forget to fill the pan with water and turn the fire on under the empty pan, burning the pan that way, while leaving the brussell sprouts intact). </p>
<p>but after many failures with steaming, and much time wasted scrubbing the burnt pan back to health, i got the idea to microwave them. now i do that for 4:30, it’s 1/3 the time and it saves water. the only drawback to this is the sometimes uneven cooking, but i can put up with a few crunchy brussell sprouts when i no longer have to worry about the mushy oversteamed ones that can barely be eaten.</p>
<p>oh and i just eat them with a stick of butter beside my bowl of (mircrowaved!) brussell sprouts. i use my spoon to scoop some butter off of the stick (well its closer to a rectangle and its a high quality butter that’s a bit softer than the cheaper bad-tasting brand of butter my mom uses) and then i scoop up a brussell sprout from the bowl before putting the contents of the spoon into my mouth (YUM!). keeping them separate like that (the butter and the brussell sprouts) means the butter doesn’t melt and doesn’t have to be cleaned out of the bowl afterwards, so i can just reuse the bowl the next time i need it hassle-free.</p>
<p>I oven roast them with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. And if I have it on hand, I’ll toss in diced/chopped bacon or pancetta in the pan and roast it in the oven all together. That’s the best way I personally like to eat them. I’ve also tried doing shaved Brussels sprouts salad but I don’t particularly like the way they taste raw. (PS it’s Brussels sprouts )</p>
<p>I was a brussels-sprout-hater until I tried this recipe. It’s very simple, with olive oil, salt and pepper. Word of warning: the baking sheet will get black spots.</p>
<p>I also really like roasted brussel sprouts and do toledo’s method but last time I cooked them I decided to just do them on the stove since I had something else in the oven at a temperature much lower than needed for roasting. I washed my fresh sprouts, cut them in half and put them in a little water in a 10" covered skillet. I allowed them to steam cook until not quite al dente, drained the water and added a little olive oil, salt and turned up the heat. They were done in another five minutes and tasted pretty much just like the roasted ones. This was handy because I was finishing up whatever else I had cooking and could keep an eye (and a spatula for turning) on the sprouts. </p>
<p>I do my asparagus Toledo’s way - I just foil the pan. </p>
<p>Lately I also roast Brussels sprouts with just a little bacon as mentioned above - I sometimes add just a splash of brown sugar the last couple of minutes and a tad of coarse salt.</p>
<p>I have started using parchment paper so I don’t get black marks all over my pans. If I am doing just Brussels sprouts, I toss them with olive oil, sprinkle garlic powder, and add chopped pecans or walnuts. At least once a week, I roast a combination of veggies: Brussels sprouts, asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, eggplant, Vidalia onion, or whatever else I can find that looks good. </p>
<p>I cut them in half with the flat side down on the baking sheet to get a nice brown roasted flavor. We sprinkle a little balsamic vinegar on the sprouts after they come out of the oven.</p>
<p>I’m in the oven roasted camp–I use a Pyrex pan, put them in cut side up so I that the copious amounts of fresh, chopped garlic will stay on top of them, lots of olive oil, some salt. Leave them in long enough to get a bit browned on top–end up with a lot of garlic-enfused oil in pan, great for bread dipping.</p>
<p>We roast too. We drizzle a mix of lemon juice and olive oil and then sprinkle with chili powder,
cumin,sea salt, black pepper,garlic powder,onion powder, paprika,red pepper flakes, dried oregano (like a tablespoon of taco seasonings) then top with lemon zest. </p>
<p>I used to hate brussels sprouts. Then DD roasted them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and I now love them that way. Roasting definitely changes things.</p>
<p>I like them blackened on a pan with olive oil, orange peel, lime juice, or the barefoot contessa way - cut in half, pyrex dish, chopped pancetta, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for 25 min. Then boil down some balsamic vinegar into a syrup and put a tablespoon over it when it’s done cooking. </p>
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