Savory Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Savory Roasted Brussel Sprouts, originally uploaded by Kate Chan.

Gluten Free, naturally.

We roasted some brussel sprouts after the gym tonight. While my love grilled a couple chicken breasts, I put the finishing touches on the roasted sprouts and joined him outside. We made a toast to the beautiful setting sun. Tonight we watched the sky turn many lovely shades of pinks, purples and reds. Oh, it was beautiful.

These days when I am behind with nearly everything in my life at home (blog posts, adoption auction posts, emails, dusting… oh man… don’t let me get started on the dusting….), it’s lovely to stop and admire the world.

Our new routine involves going to the gym for an hour +/- three evenings a week and one day on the weekend. That plus my workload with a new course and 150+ students makes me a bit of a flake sometimes.

Case in point: Yesterday I could NOT find my iPod. (I know… it’s just a thing. It’s not the “losing” the thing… it’s FLAKING that bothered me!). I looked *everywhere*. Twice. I even called my sister who lives locally and asked her if she could check my house as I was starting to lose my mind. She did (bless her!). Sadly, she didn’t find it. She sent me a text telling me she had a feeling it was in the bottom of a bag. I check my backpack (bright pink, mind you – not hard to find things in it) and my purse. THREE TIMES. No luck. So, I called my other sister (in MN… and I’m in WA). She said “What? Where’s your what?” I asked again, “Where’s my iPod?” She said… “Kate, I feel like it’s in the bottom of one of your bags that you carry back and forth from school everyday.” I muttered with frustration and stammered out that I had checked my bags a “zillion” times and it wasn’t there. But she wouldn’t budge. And neither would my other sister. So, upon entering the house, I dumped my purse out on to the coffee table (for the fifth time in two days) and … no iPod. I started to shake my purse in frustration. Nothing. The lining started to come out of my rather small purse and so I slid my hand inside to straighten it out before repacking the bag. And what did I find? Yeap. My iPod.

It had been in my purse all weekend… and the black leather iPod case against the black interior of my purse? Camouflage. Must be. And DANG did I feel like a DITZ!

But tonight? iPod securely stowed away (and checked twice today…LOL), I managed to get really in to my new routine at the gym and finish quickly. So we got home in time to watch the lovely setting sun as we walked the dog for our cool down. And then we came home for dinner.

Grilled Chicken Breasts with Rosemary and Sea Salt
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with freshly grated Locatelli
And watermelon slices for dessert.

Mmmm. Mmmm.
Perfect.

(You’ll have to forgive the lighting on the brussel sprout shot. I took it outside in the setting sunlight. I just couldn’t resist.)

I can’t wait until I can find brussel sprouts at the Farmer’s Market. No, their not in season yet. I just couldn’t resist my craving. I caved early.

I hope you get a chance to try these. We usually pan-fry our brussel sprouts with bacon pieces to add flavor or with a little brown sugar or maple syrup. These roasted sprouts are better – and better for you than our previous recipes. (And easier too!)

Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients:
1 pound brussel sprouts, cleaned and halved
1 teaspoon olive oil or rice bran oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons – 1/4 cup lightly grated locatelli or parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450F
2. Clean and half brussel sprouts. (Cut larger sprouts into fourths to make for equal roasting time.)
3. Toss with olive oil, sea salt and pepper.
4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
5. Evenly spread the sprout portions on pan and roast for 20-25 minutes, turning once halfway through roasting time.
6. Roast until the edges and loose leaves are golden brown.
7. Remove from the oven and toss with the locatelli or parmesan cheese.
8. Adjust seasonings to taste.
9. Serve warm with your favorite grilled meat or fish.

Happy Summer Evenings, All.
May great GF food usher in the fall!
-Kate