Brussels Sprouts – the instigator of all childhood uprisings and mutiny.

However, maybe now that we’ve aged and our palettes have matured, we can make peace with our baby cabbage foe

and maybe with the help from a crispy and delicious lemon and garlic Sicilian sprouts recipe. Brussel sprouts make for excellent side dishes because they taste like whatever you roast them with – allowing you to make them however potent or mild you want, according to whatever best accompanies your main dish.

The recipe only takes ten minutes of prep time and forty minutes roasting in the oven. It’s a low maintenance dish with all the looks of hours of labor – perfect for when you’re hosting family (this is also awesome because you’ll be able to pull the “you know I slaved in the kitchen for hours on dinner tonight so someone else is going to have to do the dishes”)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs of Brussels sprouts

• 2 cloves of fresh garlic

• 2 tbsp of white or red balsamic vinegar

• 2 tbsp of fresh-squeezed lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper

• 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes

• 1/4 tsp of salt

• 3 tbsp of EVOO

• Grated parmesan cheese (optional).

Prep:

• Preheat the oven to 400º F.

• Take out a baking sheet and line it with aluminum foil. Drizzle olive oil on the foil and, with your hand, spread it across the tray so that there is an even coating covering the sheet.

• Take out a large bowl and mixing spoon for when you have to mix the ingredients.

Instructions:

• Take your brussels sprouts and chop off the ends, and then chop them in half vertically.

• Chop your garlic cloves very finely so that they will cover your sprouts well.

• Toss them in a large bowl with your EVOO, ground pepper, pepper flakes, salt, and garlic. You may also add your lemon juice at this time, but I like to wait until the Brussels are coated and mixed and spread out on the pan to drizzle the juice over them.

• Spread the sprouts out evenly on the pan. Cut about a quarter of a large lemon end, and squeeze the juice over the sprouts on the pan.

• Place them in the oven and set a timer for forty minutes. Every ten minutes or so, take the sprouts out of shake them up, and flip them over so that they become evenly roasted on each side.

Once they’re done roasting, take them out and place them in a large serving bowl. Take your balsamic vinegar and judiciously drizzle it over your sprouts (I typically use white balsamic, because I find that red can be a bit overpowering). Serve them warm with a nice, full glass of wine, and enjoy!