Classic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Hello friends! 

This weekend, I regrouped and sat down to evaluate all my plans in the upcoming months. I have a couple exciting projects and news coming up: with my personal training business, the holidays tend to put my schedule in mild chaos, and I am planning on tackling a new certification (TBA!) that will take about 4 months of intense studying and focus to complete. I've also been dealing with some new health issues in addition to rehabbing my hip. 

Why am I blabbing on about all this? Well, as you guys have seen, I've been writing new posts for this site 5 days a week, which some websites do- that is, usually when they have a staff or are full-time bloggers.

I have a tendency to think I'm superwoman, which can completely bite me in the butt. My doctors kind of slapped me in the face with mortal reality, when they listened to me talk about my 6am-10pm workdays and then basically said, "well, no sh** you're not feeling well and healing as fast as you'd like to." They made me face the truth that I'm just little ol' me here, and juggling all of this is distracting me from my priority I set out for this year: my health. 

Therefore, I'll be scaling back and posting 2-3x per week. I've always said that I only want to post up quality content that is meaningful to me and hopefully genuinely inspiring others, and reflecting the reality of my life. But I'll still be just as active on my Instagram and Facebook pages, so make sure to follow along there!

I also just wanted to take a moment and say thank you to all of you guys that have continued to show support for this site and me. It makes me so happy to see things get shared, reposted, and passed along- it is so appreciated! I have some awesome content coming up for you guys that I hope you'll love.

Now onto the main content of this post!

Lord knows I love me some brussel sprouts. I've never met a brussel sprout dish that I didn't clean house on. While dressed up brussel sprouts can be downright heavenly (like ilili's famous brussel sprouts here in NYC), I find myself favoring a simple classic recipe when these are in season. 

I can't resist buying a giant stalk of these when they pop up at Trader Joe's or the farmers markets. There's just something so fun about taking a mini-tree of sprouts home to hack away at, right? Just me? Okay then. By the way, if you ever need a defense weapon, those stalks are tough and could do some damage! I tried to slice through it- don't try that at home kids. Just use your hands to snap the sprouts off of the stalk. 

Anyhow, there is nothing remarkably unique about my recipe (you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen already!), but I wanted to share this because this is a veggie that can be tricky to cook sometimes. Undercook it, and it's too bitter and crunch- and overcook it, your kitchen and plate smells like funky cabbage. I'll go over the best way how to clean and trim them as well. 

And let's be real here, I just really wanted to post lots of photos of these guys because they're incredibly photogenic. 

Classic Roasted Brussel Sprouts

*makes 4 side dish servings

Ingredients

~2 dozen Brussel Sprouts
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste

Recipe

1. Wash and trim sprouts, and slice in half (you can keep some of the really small ones whole if you'd like)

Selecting your sprouts: Choose brussel sprouts smaller in size, with tightly packed leaves. Less dirt will have gotten into them, and these are more flavorful when cooked.

How to wash and trim: I find it easiest to fill a mixing bowl with water and a splash of vinegar, and swish the sprouts around with my hands. Give the sprouts a good rinse under running water and shake excess water off. Peel any loose, dirty leaves off the sprouts, and using a knife, trim the bottoms of the sprouts. 

2. Preheat oven to 400ºF and line a baking tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine brussel sprouts with all the rest of the ingredients, and toss well to combine. 

4. Spread out sprouts, sliced side face-down, on baking tray. Make sure to not discard any leaves that may have separated from the sprout- these get extra crispy and delicious in the oven.

5. Place in the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove tray and stir sprouts around so most of them are flipped on the other side. Put tray back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until sprouts are lightly browned and edges starting to crisp.

6. *Optional: for the last few minutes (about 3-5) of baking, switch the oven onto a broil to get things a bit crisper and crunchier. 

Crisp little leaves