This Roasted Stalk of Brussels Sprouts Is a Thanksgiving Scene Stealer

An idiosyncratic Brussels sprout is not overmuch to look at. It’s green, round, and cabbage-like. It looks similar a vegetable, and that’s fine. But a full stalk of sprouts is visually arresting, astir otherworldly. And, erstwhile roasted full and served arsenic the centerpiece for a vegetarian Thanksgiving (or a stunning broadside astatine an omnivore Thanksgiving), the humble cruciferous rootlike becomes the prima of the show.

I recovered my stalk astatine Trader Joe’s, but I’ve besides seen them astatine Whole Foods, New Seasons (my section bougie market), and (obviously) farmer’s markets. A stalk of Brussels sprouts is champion prepared similar immoderate Brussels sprout: You should roast it. Trader Joe’s recommends microwaving it first, but I person ne'er met a microwave that was large capable to accommodate an full stalk. Don’t worry. Your oven volition enactment conscionable fine.

It’s not a analyzable dish. In its simplest form, each you person to bash is brushwood the sprouts with olive oil, brackish them generously, and popular the full stalk successful the oven until the sprouts are tender and arsenic browned arsenic you similar them. If you privation to get fancy with it, Thanksgiving is simply a bully time to bash it, particularly if you bash not devour turkey, but inactive privation an edible centerpiece with which to wow your guests. (I deliberation this is prettier than immoderate dormant bird.)

Do a small weapon work

Leaving the sprouts full works fine, but Thanksgiving is not the clip for “fine.” Making a transverse conception successful each sprout exposes the wrong and increases the magnitude of aboveground country you tin season, portion decreasing the magnitude of clip it instrumentality to get the sprouts tender.

You’ll privation to marque 2 perpendicular, intersecting cuts into the sprout. You privation to spell arsenic heavy arsenic you tin portion inactive keeping it 1 piece—about a 4th inch from the small stem that attaches to the stalk is good. Making the transverse sections is simply a small tedious, but benignant of fun, and won’t instrumentality you much than 10 minutes. Once your weapon enactment is finished, it’s clip to flavor.

Brush connected the flavor

As I mentioned earlier, you could wholly get distant with olive lipid and salt, but I similar to brushwood my stalk with a saccharine and tangy, vinaigrette-esque sauce, past decorativeness with caller citrus juice, and a last sprinkling of salt. (That’s right, we’re getting 2 acids involved.) You could besides decorativeness your stalk with citrus zest, herbs of immoderate kind, oregon adjacent a unreality of freshly grated parm, but I would not skip the citrus foodstuff (especially connected Thanksgiving, a time with a rich, fatty paper that needs all the acid you tin propulsion astatine it). I bask placing a azygous pomegranate effect successful each transverse section, due to the fact that it’s pretty, but you tin scatter them astir the stalk if that’s a small excessively twee for your tastes.

You’ll request to brushwood the condiment connected a fewer times, to physique a fewer layers of flavor, the archetypal of which volition caramelize successful spots. Make definite you get the condiment down into those transverse sections; expanding aboveground country for spirit to cling is the full crushed for making them successful the archetypal place.

Maple Roasted Stalk of Sprouts

Ingredients:

• 1 stalk of Brussels sprouts
• 1/2 cupful maple syrup
• 1/4 cupful olive oil
• 1/4 cupful pome cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoonful Dijon mustard
• 3/4 spoon oversea salt
• 1/2 spoon achromatic pepper
• 1 bundle pomegranate seeds
• 1 citrus wedge (about a 4th of a ample lemon)
• More brackish for finishing

Wash the stalk, pat adust with insubstantial towels oregon a cleanable room towel, and trim disconnected immoderate unsmooth looking leaves oregon full sprouts, arsenic good arsenic immoderate stems that mightiness get successful your mode portion making transverse sections.

Using a crisp paring knife, marque 2 perpendicular, intersecting cuts into the sprout. Go arsenic heavy arsenic you tin portion inactive keeping it 1 piece—about a 4th inch from the small stem. Place connected a baking expanse and vigor your oven to 350℉.

While the oven is heating, marque the condiment by combining each ingredients but the pomegranate seeds, lemon, and finishing salt. I similar to adhd everything to a jar and shingle it up. Brush the substance each implicit the sprouts with a pastry brush, making definite to get a bully spot of the condiment wrong the transverse sections.

Roast the stalk for 1o minutes, past brushwood with much condiment and rotate the pan. Repeat until the sprouts are tender and browned connected the tips and edges, 30-45 minutes total, depending connected your oven, and marque definite you use the condiment astatine slightest 3 times. (My oven has a convection mounting that gets it done successful 30, but a accepted oven volition astir apt timepiece successful astatine 45.)

Remove from the oven, compression a wedge of citrus implicit the full stalk, and play with much brackish to taste. Place a pomegranate effect successful each sprout if you are successful a twee-ass benignant of mood. Serve successful the halfway of the table. (Nudge the dormant vertebrate retired of the mode if needed.)