Brussel Spouts are yummy

There. That's probably the most controversial blog title you'll see all year.

As you can guess I am firmly, much to my own surprise, in the pro-brussel sprouts category. If you don't believe me just go to P. F. Chang's and order their lemon brussel sprouts that have been shaved and cooked on the wok until just tender and slightly charred. They will change your mind forever. That's not all you can do with them though. Basically my technique is to avoid anything like steaming or boiling and instead focus on roasting and sauteing so that you get as much flavor into the sprout as possible. I had pretty good success this evening with a simple vegetable and sausage casserole.

After spending a long weekend down at the beach and eating fairly standard restaurant fare I was filling the need to bring in some serious vegetable power. Fortunately pinterest gave me some inspiration. The original recipe is here, but I'm sure you can guess I didn't follow it completely. Basically I browned some kielbasa while I cut up sweet potato, carrots, a turnip, mushrooms, onions, and pound of brussel sprouts. I tossed the veggies with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and poured a vegetable broth that I'd seasoned with lemon juice, garlic, sage, and tarragon over the top. Then it all went into the oven as described. It came out quite well, and, even though I'd cooked the brussel sprouts with some liquid, they still came out very tasty. While I'm not a rabid seasonal cook, I do like generally cooking with the seasons, and this really easy root vegetable casserole (although it's more of a roast) was a great choice on a day when my brain was fogged up with "just back from a trip" and "let me take a flying leap at these responsibilities I haven't thought about for four days."

Pictures coming soon. I really like my new 50mm lens. It does stuff my other lens just can't do, as you'll see.

Also, I have a post in the works on Christian progressivism. I've just got some church stuff I need to get sorted out before I move on to play time.

And yeah. Eat your sprouts. They're good for you.