Eat Your Vegetables: Brussels sprouts

Advocate staff photo by RICHARD ALAN HANNON -- For an easy, tasty vegetable dish, roast seasoned Brussels sprouts at a high heat in olive oil. After removing from the oven, sprinkle with a little Parmesan cheese.

You will be tempted to try one of these tasty little roasted buds and then be surprised at how good they are.

Jay Chaisson said his children will finish off a bowl of these as a snack as soon as he takes them from the oven, sometimes before he grates a little Parmesan over the top.

This is the season for Brussels sprouts and they are so delicious if you get them fresh. The sooner you cook them after you purchase them the better they are. After three or four days, the Brussels sprouts develop a stronger flavor.

Brussels sprouts are members of the cabbage family and they look like tiny heads of cabbage. The mistake most of us used to make was that we overcooked most of our vegetables, resulting in a strong taste. Roasting vegetables for a short time at a high heat in a little olive oil intensifies the flavor, and that’s better for us than smothering them in rich sauces. I think Ina Garten, author of the popular “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook,” made us realize that with her wonderfully simple recipes.

Most Brussels sprouts range from 1 to 1½ inches in diameter. Recut the very bottom end of the stem. Don’t cut too much off because that’s what holds the leaves on.