Sweet + Sour Brussels Sprouts
Recipe Credit: Debbie Van Oosterom
Ingredients
▢ 1.5lbs brussels sprouts
▢ 8 strips bacon (diced)
▢ 1 onion (diced)
▢ 1/4 cup vinegar
▢ 1/4 cup sugar
▢ 1/2 tsp salt
▢ 1 garlic clove
▢ 2 tsp cornstarch
▢ 2 tsp water
Directions
Toss whole brussels sprouts in olive oil and roast at 400F for 20-25 min or until soft.
Brown bacon in pan. Once cooked remove to dish. In bacon fat fry onion until clear.
Stir in sugar, vinegar, salt and garlic.
Mix cornstarch and water together to create a slurry. Add to vinegar sauce and whisk until sauce boils and thickens.
Add brussels sprouts and bacon.
Heat through.
More About Brussels Sprouts
Brussel sprouts are one of the most difficult crops to grow for organic farmers. That’s because they take over one hundred and twenty days to reach maturity and pests like aphids have ample time to colonize and reproduce. They also spend much of their growing time through the summer when the cabbage butterfly is most active.
For this reason, commercial growers spray sprouts up to ten times in a single growing season. Because we don’t use sprays, we’re forced to find other strategies to combat pests. The simplest approach is to use flowers like phacelia and alyssum to attract beneficials that keep pest populations under control.
We also plant later in the season so that the sprouts mature in the fall when pests are sluggish and slow to reproduce. Our sprouts are planted in the ground in late June giving us a Christmas harvest. We harvest whole plants and encourage you to eat the leaves as well.