Roasted Brussel Sprouts

My family never made brussel spouts growing up, so I never knew what I was missing.  Well, I did have them eventually when I was in New Zealand, but they were not something that tasted good, nor was it something that I would ever have thought to make, eat and enjoy.  Fast forward many years later.  I was living in Munich and was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner made by a New Zealander.  No, New Zealand does not celebrate Thanksgiving, but this was an expat whom had lived abroad with Americans and found that he loved Thanksgiving and every year since then had continued to celebrate it.  I was the token American invited to this Thanksgiving dinner.  As you can image, I met another very different brussel sprout at this dinner that remained intact in my memory so that again years later, I would see these wonderful things at a grocery story and decide that finally it was time to tackle the brussel sprout.

The way that amazing brussel sprout was prepared was ever so simple...roast them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  This simple method creates a lovely sweet brussel sprout.  I recently made them for a friend of mine at a dinner party.  She, and everyone who was present, thought I was crazy to make something that few people like.  Well as it turns out everyone who tried them also thought they were wonderful.  How can you turn up your nose to olive oil and balsamic vinegar roasted goodness?  I encourage lovers and haters of brussel sprouts to try these.  Not only are they lovely to eat, they are also curious when you buy them in a complete stalk.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Decide on a quantity of brussel sprouts
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper


Clean the brussel sprouts, remove any outer leaves which look damaged, then cut them in half. Drizzle with olive oil (just enough to lightly coat each sprout...depending on the quantity about 2-3 tablespoons).  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (less so you have about a 2 to 1 ratio of olive oil to vinegar).  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 30-40 minutes at about 375F or until the brussel sprouts have absorbed the balsamic vinegar and are slightly shriveled.