thanksgiving recipes (4 of 4): roasted brussel sprouts with shallots and balsamic vinegar

t-day for 2 meant i was only making 1 veggie. neither K or i were ever very fond of brussel sprouts, until having them 1) grilled and 2) served nice & charred in a restaurant... so we say NO to mushy, unflavored brussel sprouts of yesterday, but YES to having them with char and delish seasonings. amazing what a matter of proper prep can do to a dish... more and more things i always said i don't like, i find myself liking now after i have them in a new and better way. 

picture from seriouseats.com 

this recipe was taken from seriouseats.com (my go-to of late), and was so on point. i scaled it back a bit and added in bacon to my portion after (we had a vegetarian over) which threw it over the edge - the sweet/savoriness of the balsamic & shallot were the best of friends with the salty bacon. yum!









ingredients list: (1 lb made enough for 3 ppl)
- 1 lb brussel sprouts, bottoms trimmed, outer leaves removed, split in half
- 1 medium shallot, finely diced
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 3 slices cooked bacon


to make: 
adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions and place a heavily rimmed baking sheet in the oven (i prepped mine with parchment for easy clean up). preheat oven to 500F degrees. 

toss the sprouts, shallots, olive oil, and salt and pepper in a large bowl and toss to combine. when oven is hot, carefully remove baking dish and spread the sprout mixture on it in an even single layer. 

return to oven, and roast 10 minutes on the lower rack, 10 minutes on the upper rack, tossing the sprouts  after the first 10 minutes. they should be deeply charred and tender at the end of 20 minutes. 

remove from oven, drizzle sprouts with balsamic vinegar, and add in bacon (a little drizzle of bacon grease will not hurt here either). add an additional dash of salt/pepper if desired, and serve. YUM!