brussels sprouts adventure 2009

Actually, this will probably be the only brussels sprouts adventure I have....at least for awhile. Don't get me wrong they were delicious, despite common brussels sprouts belief.

So how did I come across this monstrosity? The farmers market, of course! And you should've seen my excitement when I came across it, I bet I looked like a little kid on Christmas. And to make it even better, a 15-year old girl was telling me, the older, wiser, maturer 22-year old all about brussels-sprout-growth. Wow. I kinda felt like an idiot.

Me: "These things grow on stalks???"
Girl: "Uhhhh, ch-yeah."

And then I learned all about brussels sprouts harvesting, growing, plucking of the sprouts off the stalk - you name it.

And the best part? The fact that the stalk can be a number of imaginary things....unicorn horn, peg leg, Pinocchio nose, extremely long buck-tooth. Way too many possibilities.

Let the pluckage begin!

An all bare stalk. How sad. :(

So if you are so inclined to make brussels sprouts starting from the stalk, be sure to dunk 'em in a bowl of water to get the dirt off, if there is any. Who knows what's been on those things. I then sauteed them in a pan with a little bit of olive oil and then seasoned them with sea salt and pepper. Garlic would be great with these, too, but they really don't need much. Cook them till they're bright green.

Mmmmm. Okay, so there's only one brussels sprout in this picture, but oh well. I mixed a bunch of random veggies I had sauteed earlier, melted some mozzarella on them, and gobbled them up. It's tastier than you think it may be. I guarantee it. :)