Eat Your Brussels Sprouts!

Growing up our Mom fed us (6 kids and Dad) a wide variety of vegetables and I don't recall turning my nose up at many of them. One that I recall eating frequently was Brussels Sprouts. I remember being fascinated by the heads of cabbage in miniature. I don't have any specific recollections of how Mom prepared them so I'm always looking for different methods especially since Bertie and Tommy are not big fans of them.

On our last trip to Costco I came across a 2 pound bag of Brussels Sprouts for a very reasonable price while making a very quick trip through that huge refrigerated produce walk-in room. So before they went bad sitting in our fridge I looked for another recipe on a new app I loaded on the iPad, AllRecipes. I use their website frequently and it is one of my favorites for recipes. I found about 5 recipes that I'll try in the future for Brussels Sprouts. The one I chose for tonight is called Sweet & Sour Brussels Sprouts. It is a really to prepare dish using stuff most people have in their pantry. They turned out great! Even Bertie was a fan, Tommy not so much.

Note: I couldn't find any unsalted cashews at the store so I used macadamia nuts instead and forgot to roast them. This was Bertie's favorite ingredient it turns out.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound of Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and cut in half length-wise
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/2 cup of cashew pieces, toasted in a 350 degree oven until golden brown
Salt & Pepper to taste

METHOD

1. In a medium saucepan, cook the Brussels Sprouts in 2/3 cup of boiling water until crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and put the Brussels Sprouts in a medium bowl, discard the water.
2. In another medium bowl combine the olive oil, syrup, vinegar and mustard, whisk until blended. Pour the blended sauce over the still steaming Brussels Sprouts along with the nuts and salt & pepper to taste. Toss gently to get all Brussels Sprouts covered and serve.