Nutrition 3/8-14

I know. They’re brussels sprouts. Nobody likes them. Except weird people.

Prepare to be weird then. Because these rock.

And since we roasted root crops to their essence last week, let’s do it now with a cole crop. “Cole” is the family with broccoli, kale, collards, and kohlrabi.

Take a pound of sprouts. Trim the bottoms, cut the remaining sprout in half. Toss them in a plastic bag with four tablespoons of olive oil.

You’ve already pre-heated your oven to 400. Spread the sprout halves on a baking sheet. Let this go for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the sprouts. Every ten minutes or so, give it a shake or turn with a spatula. You want these to cook evenly.

You’ll know you are done when the sprouts are dark brown, even black in places. They will be a little crispy. That’s good. That’s what you want.

Pull them out of the oven, place in a bowl, and sprinkle kosher salt on them. If you like, drizzle some aged balsamic vinegar on them.

I know some people who will put some bacon in with this. (For that matter, I know people who will substitute bacon grease for the olive oil, but those people are just nuts!)

Nutrition, per serving: 104 calories; 7 g fat; 10 g carbohydrates; 3 g protein; 0 mg cholesterol; 344 mg sodium. That’s leaving bacon (and bacon grease) out.

These are not like vegetables. These are like little crispy pieces of natural heaven. But you have to let them get really, really brown. Otherwise, they taste like brussels sprouts.