VOTM - Brussel Sprouts

I decided to do a write up on a different vegetable every month and share a few ways I like to enjoy them. So from now when you see the VOTM prefix on a post that is my acronym for Vegetable Of The Month. And to get the ball rolling, my first post will feature brussel sprouts.

Brussel sprouts are something that I ate a few times as a child, they were always boiled to within an inch of their life and I never enjoyed them. In fact, none of my siblings liked them so mum stopped trying to make us eat them after a while. My husband was keen for me to cook sprouts a while ago and when I finally did, no effort was put into finding out different ways to prepare them. They were served the only way I knew and not surprisingly, I still didn't like them.

It wasn't until last year that I began to experiment with cooking sprouts in different ways. I evolved from a sprout hater to a sprout lover overnight! Roasting was one of the first methods I enjoyed, then I moved on to steaming sprout halves with chopped carrots and finishing them off with a light fry in nuttelex and toasted almonds.

More recently, sprouts have been enjoyed in shredded form. This began last year when I tried the Vegan Yum Yum stir-fry recipe for Seven Spice Udon. Appetite for Reduction has a recipe called Shaved Brussel Sprouts which is essentially onion, garlic and shredded sprouts seasoned with salt and pepper - which is a component of the last picture in my nut roast post. For my last Viva Vegan meal - Brazilian Black Bean Stew, I changed this side dish by ditching the onion and adding in some smoked paprika which turned out superbly - recipe below.

Whilst writing up this post, I flicked back through photos that haven't been posted to see if I could dig up any more sprout shots. The below meal was something I threw together in a hurry one night, using up left over vegies and totally not expecting it to be anything special. I actually didn't take a photo the first time around and because it was so good I tried to make it again the next week. I'm not sure why I didn't get around to posting about it and wouldn't be able to give you a recipe from looking at it. I'll have to make it again some day so it can be shared.      

Brussel sprouts are something that I really enjoy experimenting with and eating these days. Not so long ago I would have shied away from recipes that included them. Now I am always on the hunt for different ways to use them!

Shredded smoky sprouts (Adapted from Appetite for Reduction)

Olive oil spray
3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
10 brussel sprouts
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

To prepare the sprouts, slice off knobbly end off the bottom and remove the outer leaves. Cut each sprout in half and then slice into strips.

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with olive oil spray and heat on a medium flame. Cook the garlic for about 30 seconds, then add the sprouts, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Fry for about 7 minutes, until the leaves become brown and crispy.