Site icon food to glow

Smoky Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette

kellie anderson

In my last post to you I said that I would be back with my favourite Brussels sprout recipe. Most of us have a favourite brownie recipe {here’s mine} a favourite soup recipe {this is my winter favourite}, and a favourite curry {here – omg it is so good!} but Brussels sprouts? Really?

If you are a Brussels sprouts hater – thinking them vile orbs of evil, smelling of gym bag-ripe socks and tasting of something unprintable – you may think this is a waste of my time and yours. Surely no recipe can transform something so memory-scarringly awful into something one might wish to put on the Thanksgiving or Christmas table. Unless you really don’t like your relatives.

Some of you haters will have a genuine and unassailable reason to hate Brassica oleracea var gemmifera. Possessing the TAS2R38 gene, you will have discovered that the cabbage family is your culinary Kryptonite. Unless heavily disguised with salt and sour – or even sweetened – what you taste is an overwhelming bitterness that the rest of us cannot to the same degree detect. If this is you, consider yourself off the hook. I won’t push my leafy wares to you. Although this recipe does contain the above ‘disguises’ so might just do the trick for you. Like I said, I won’t push. But I can hope. 🙂 If, inexplicably, you are reading this rather plant-centric blog and you really don’t like vegetables {are you lost?}, here’s an article on learning to love vegetables. And reasons why you should really give Brussels sprouts another go.

But, the rest of you, if your experiences have merely been quite unpleasant rather than tongue-scraping, it should just be a matter of the right approach. The school dinner method of boiling until soft is not the approach. Short steaming, roasting, stir-frying or pan-frying gets you much, much closer. And so does this recipe.

This is seriously yummy. These tangy-sweet-umami sprouts are one of those more than the sum of its parts kind of foods. If you like sprouts even a tiny bit you will be picking them off the tray like we do.

Perhaps make double.

A few more food to glow Brussels sprouts-ish recipes: 

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Crispy Sage Crumbs

Baked Vegetable and Egg Nests

Southern Cornbread Stuffing {Dressing}

Winter Slaw with Pear and Cranberries

A few articles on ways with Brussels sprouts: from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Yotam Ottolenghi; and a beautiful risotto from Martha Rose Shulman of the New York Times. On my list to make!

Smoky Vegan Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print page

Ostensibly for the Thanksgiving table, these gussied up yet very simple Brussels sprouts beg to be made any time there is a nip in the air. These quickly roasted mini cabbages are perfect with any roast dinner, with hummus in a pitta pocket or wrap, tossed through grains, gnocchi or pasta. Leftovers are brilliant pan-fried with a little tofu.

35g {1/4 c} pine nuts

40g {1/4 c} natural almonds

12g {1/4 c} nutritional yeast

¼ tsp salt

Zest of ½ unwaxed lemon

½ tsp garlic powder

450g {1/2 lb} Brussels sprouts, washed, trimmed and cut into quarters in large or halves if small

2 tbsp evoo {extra virgin olive oil}

2 tsp Liquid Smoke {I get mine in the US but it is available in the UK at sous-chef.co.uk}

Maple-Dijon Vinaigrette

3 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp Dijon mustard

3 tbsp evoo {extra virgin olive oil}

2 ½ tsp pure maple syrup

Salt and pepper, to taste

Special equipment needed: mini food processor or spice/coffee grinder for making the vegan parmesan.

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

2. Put the nuts, nutritional yeast, garlic powder and salt in a mini processor and blitz until it resembles finely grated parmesan cheese. Stir in the lemon zest and Liquid Smoke.

3. Toss the sliced Brussels sprouts with the olive oil and, when coated, stir in the vegan cheese mix. Pour the coated sprouts onto a baking tray and roast in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until the sprouts are slightly crispy in places and any detached leaves are quite crisp.

4. Meanwhile, whisk together the maple-Dijon vinaigrette. When the sprouts are gorgeously burnished gently toss with the vinaigrette and slide into a pretty serving dish.

Notes: the Liquid Smoke is not essential, so don’t avoid the dish for lack of a bottle of this heady condiment. But it is extremely versatile {and you can make this with it} and it keeps forever. It is a slightly controversial ingredient for some, but I only ever use it in tiny amounts for a whole recipe. Also, feel free to use vegetarian Parmesan or something like Grana Padano instead of making the vegan cheese crumbles. The timing is the same.

 

 

 

 

 

Exit mobile version