Roasted Brussels Sprouts

The end of the gardening season is upon us, but we still have a few treats to marvel over. Brussels sprouts are some of the last of the vegetables out there in the grey cottage's patch of Earth.

The Weirdest Salad I Ever Loved ...

Up til just a few years ago, you couldn't pay me to put a Brussels sprout in my mouth. No offense to my Mom, but she'd ruined the little cabbage for me. Her one and only method of preparation was to boil the heck out of the poor things until they resembled khaki bits of Army fatigues and serve them plain as can be with a pat of margarine and some salt and pepper. She also always bought the biggest (and thus more bitter) sprouts she could get. Why, I'll never know. Consequently, this little vegetable made it real fast to my shortlist of BLECCH!

It was SB who turned my attitude around. Oh, and Yotam Ottolenghi. SB showed me how to roast Brussels sprouts. YO showed me how to dress them up all pretty and sweet.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Fennel and Shitake Mushrooms

The New Year brings in many a food-oriented resolution and this foodie shudders when I think of most of them, particularly the one's that involve losing weight and limiting one's intake of certain high-calorie or high fat foods. Moderation in all things has become my mantra. I'm hoping that I can have my cake and lean meats and fruits and vegetables and eat them too! That being said, eating plenty of vegetables is always a good thing.

Our Roasted Brussels Sprouts ...

These are our very own Brussels sprouts raised, fertilized with our very own compost, guarded from the damn deer, and picked by resident gentleman farmer, Silent Bob! They have a slather of olive oil, some kosher salt and black pepper, and a few cloves of garlic minced up and scattered over them. They are on their way into a hot oven for a fast roast and then ..... BACON!

That's all ... I just had to brag on these little green jewels! It's the little things in life, folks, that make me very happy these days. Tomorrow, I am making Autumn Squash Risotto and using one of the Hubbard squash that we've just pulled from the squash patch. The garden is still producing, but it's slowing down dramatically. We must take our pleasures where we can find them - a stray tomato off the drooping vines, crisp beets from the row, one more zucchini squash from vines that are mouldering and pouting in all the rain, more Brussels sprouts just waiting for the picking ... you can feel the season slumping to a stop.  I think that's why I delight so in these fall vegetables that bravely soldier on ... and the ever cheerful zinnias that just keep on blooming!