Every now and then, you encounter a dish that has the perfect amounts of everything your tongue lives for; Bitterness, Salty, Sweet, and Heat. Who would imagine that the bitterness of Brussels Sprouts could be perfectly mitigated with Sea Salt and Honey? Who, indeed...
Most people run away when I threaten to cook Brussels Sprouts, and I understand that. Completely. Let's be clear; these sprouts are evil! If you eat them raw, they will literally attack your mouth with some sort of vile chemical warfare. Go ahead, eat a few sprouts, raw, then drink a glass of water. You'll swear that the inside of your mouth is peeling away from your skull, it's not pleasant. But they're just so gosh-darned good for you... I've been plying away for years (literally, years) to find a pleasant way to eat them, and I'm delivering for you here. You're welcome.....
You Will Need:
- A couple dozen fresh Brussels sprouts
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/3 cup Sriracha hot sauce
- 1 healthy glob of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon of Sea Salt
Take your Brussels sprouts out of the cage, box, or whatever container your grocer kept them in and give them a good wash. Now, slice them fairly thinly. Maybe 1/8 of an inch? If you have a food processor, this will take less than ten seconds. If you have your trusty knife, just get busy. I like to yell at them while I cut them, it helps... "How does THAT feel, you miserable no-good green son of a b***??" Place them in a bowl and toss them around as you sprinkle on the salt. Set them aside and let the salt work into their wounds for about fifteen minutes.
Measure out your honey and Sriracha. Luckily, my sweet sister bought me some of these super-cool silicon beakers and NOTHING sticks to them. I squirt the honey first, and the Sriracha second.
Mix the two of them thoroughly until you have a uniform red sauce. Taste it... YUM, right? Just wait....
Now take out your best heavy non-stick saute' pan and glob in some EVOO. Hike the heat up to Med-Hi and let the oil get hot.
Toss in the sprouts. Poor devils... sliced, salted, and now covered with hot oil? They deserve it, they've been super duper naughty. Toss and stir them around until they soften a little bit and start to caramelize.
When they turn a lovely golden shade of brown, pour in your sauce and stir them some more. Let the sauce get hot and watch as the dish comes together. It smells terrific!
I served mine with a Ribeye Steak (and horseradish sauce), alongside a hot mushroom and spinach salad. Honestly, this dish has everything going for it; It's sweet and it's spicy. It's aromatic. It's low calorie, low carb, and extremely flavorful. I can't imagine trying to pair a wine with it, something fruity I would imagine? Anyway, it's easy and delicious, and if 93 of you try it, it will push my blog traffic up over the 100,000 hit mark, and that's a good thing, too!
