Recipe of the week ~ Roasted Brussles Sprouts with Bacon

I'm rushing to get this officially posted today and I think I'm going to make it, quelle relief!

Well dear readers, the family is safely back home after back to back long weekends on the road. We had a wonderful time in Illinois with DH's family! Lots of fun, food, three birthday cakes and a huge football win. Go Big Blue! It was our son's first college football game and despite the drizzle he loved every minute of it~ especially splashing in all the puddles. Our son is clearly all boy.

Hard to believe that it's been a week since my last post. Time for my weekly recipe! This week's recipe, like so many of my family's favorites is hardly a recipe it's so simple. Between feeding our son, trying to straighten up the house, picking up DH at the metro and getting dinner ready the hours between 5 pm and 7 pm can seem like a marathon. Because of this I usually try to make dinner with in 30 mins. (Please don't think I'm referring to or trying to be anything like a certain Food Network star!)

This is a super simple recipe and the best part is that you can substitute virtually any vegetable. Some of my favorites are brussels sprouts of course, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and squash. I don't always use bacon when making this recipe in fact, it's usually only if we have some left over from making another dish. And it certainly isn't something you want to add every time as you want to keep some of the health benefits of the vegetables but it does add a scrumptious saltiness to the dish.

Roasted Brussles Sprouts with Bacon

Serves 3-4 as a side dish

1 bunch brussles sprouts

1-2 TBS olive oil

3-4 slices of bacon or pancetta

1 tsp salt & pepper (I strongly recommend using kosher salt)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cook bacon slices or pancetta in a skillet. Remove and set aside. Wash and clean the sprouts well, removing any discolored leaves. Chop off the bottom stalk and cut sprouts in half or quarters if large. Drizzle with olive oil then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in oven for about 10-15 mins. Keep an eye on the sprouts, you want them to brown slightly on the cut side but you don't want to over cook. They should still be bright green and somewhat firm. Once the sprouts are ready, crumble the bacon or pancetta and mix with sprouts. Serve immediately.

I have been surprised by how many people claim not to like so many types of vegetables and then seem to love this version (yes, even without the bacon). This really is almost as simple as microwaving or steaming and is so much more flavorful. When I roasted broccoli for my teenage nephew, who claimed to hate vegetables I think he was as shocked as I was when he asked for seconds. What better recommendation can you ask for?

I hope you'll try this soon!

Cheers,

Ouiser