But really, come on. They are just tiny cabbages. We wrap cabbage around meatballs. We turn cabbage into Cole slaw. We put cabbage slivers in salads. And it’s all okay. So what makes Brussels sprouts so bad? Maybe they have some bitterness, or it has something to do with the power-packed nature of the little gritty green leaf-like balls, but seriously, it’s just another cabbage, so let’s figure out a quick way to give them some additional tastiness.
Speaking to a friend last week, she explained how she got her kids to eat and like Brussels sprouts. She grills some bacon and drains the grease. Then sautés some garlic in with the bacon. She steams the Brussels sprouts for about 10 minutes to tenderize them.
When the Sprouts are ready, she chops up the bacon and pours the garlic/bacon mixture over them, and sprinkles some shredded parmesan cheese on top and lets it melt in (you can nuke it for a few seconds to speed the process). Done. See how that tastes. Let me know what your kids think.
The one part of her recipe I would change is leaving some bacon grease in the pan when you put the garlic in. That will retain some juices to give it better mixing when you pour on the Brussels sprouts.