I like brussel sprouts

Following up on my earlier post, I was true to my word and bought and prepared brussel sprouts.  I followed the recipe suggested by Mama Bee from over at Smitten Kitchen, and guess what?  I liked 'em.  Okay, the recipe did call for a few slices of pancetta, which I didn't have, but bacon I did, and it didn't exactly explain whether one should drain the bacon fat before preparing the sauce, which leaves me with a rather tasty, but way expensive vegetable dish, points-wise, calorie-wise, and any-which-wise you look at it.  It was, however, good.

For starters, I thought brussel sprouts were a winter vegetable.  Nonetheless, I had to pay $3.69 for 12 oz. of sprouts.  I was shocked to have to pay that much for a simple vegetable in season.  That is as much if not more than asparagus.  Perhaps it wasn't fear of the sprouts that kept me away all this time. But, I kept the cost down by having a number of the items requested on hand.  I had some frozen bread loaf-ends in the freezer, which I gave a spin in the food processor, mixed with a small amount of olive oil and toasted in the oven.  Swell.  No out of pocket cost there.  I had the onions, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and bacon on hand as well.

This is how it looked when prepared as directed.  I had to move one of those sprouts on top so you'd actually believe I made the things.

I paired this vegetable with some turkey thigh and some of the leftover vegetable lasagna.  (Yes, I am STILL eating on that stuff and it is still HO-HUM.)

And I would be willing to try brussel sprouts some other ways.  For instance, I thought the pan smelled mighty good when all it held was brussel sprouts, bacon, onions, and garlic.  If I didn't add the balsamic vinegar and beef stock, I'd have probably enjoyed those sprouts just as much, if not more.  (I'm coming to the sneaking suspicion that many recipes should be discarded at the point where the smell of it  makes your mouth water--recipe be damned!)

So I'm glad I tried the sprouts.  Maybe when I win the lotto, I can have them more often.

Balsamic braised brussel sprouts a la Smitten Kitchen
4 servings
Kcal:  231
Fat: 15 g  Saturated fat: 6 g
Carbs: 18 g
Protein: 8 g
Fiber: 4 g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 5