Do you like brussels sprouts?  Being Italian, I do not recall growing up and eating brussels sprouts let alone liking them when I first was introduced to them.  Boy have things changed when it comes to  brussels sprouts, brussels sprouts have such a popular vegetable, you can enjoy them raw, steamed, pan fried or roasted and I can promise you, if you are willing to give them a chance, you will love them!

I remember when I was working in the commerical kitchen that we would steam our brussels sprouts  and then we would roast them in the oven.  When I researched why, I learned that steaming the brussels sprouts first takes away some of the bitter taste in them.  So for those of you that would say “brussels sprouts are too bitter” try steaming them and seeing if that makes a big difference for you.

I created this recipe because I am teaching classes at the Conejo Valley Adult School and we are doing a “Fall Series” with “side dishes” as one of the classes.  I wanted a bonus recipe, meaning that if we have time to do extra recipes, I wanted to have a recipe available to do.  So, I played around with different recipes and then created this recipe and I just loved this recipe.

Some facts on Brussels Sprouts:

• Brussels sprouts grow on stalks, if you can find brussels sprouts on a stalk buy them as they are usually a little cheaper and they last longer in your refridgerator
• I would not boil brussels sprouts as boiling them removes the nutrients and I have found that boiling them intensives the smell of vegetable and I personally do not care for the smell of overcooked brussels sprouts
• If roasting the brussels sprouts, I’d only cut them in half and start with the cut side down on the pan
• As you can see from my video on YouTube, you can pan “sauté” your brussels sprouts in a frying pan, instead of roasting them
• Steaming your brussels sprouts helps to remove some of the bitter flavor
• It has been said that Brussels sprouts help with your digestive system and are one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat

So I was able to find my brussels sprouts on the stalk so here is a photo of them

I removed the brussels sprouts from the stalk

I cut off the bottoms and removed some of the exterior leaves, I then cut them in half and each half I cut in half again so I had 4 quarters from each brussels sprout

I put some oil and a little butter in my pan and put my brussels sprouts in the pan, covered the pan and cooked on med-high for about 4-6 minutes, I then uncovered the pan, tossed the brussels sprouts, covered and cooked until they were soft watch my YouTube video for more details on how I did this

I then made my dressing, sorry I did not love the photos I had for the dressing but if you watch my video below (YouTube video), I show you how to make the dressing.

Here are the dates, I cut them into bite sized pieces as I really wanted a bite of Brussels sprout with every bite of date

I put it all in a bowl

added my dressing, then my nuts and my cheese

tossed and served…

This was a super delicious recipe and was great served cold or at room temperature.  I can say that if you want a stronger cheese flavor, you can use Parmesan cheese, as a matter of fact, while I used the Manchego cheese, I would prefer the parmesan cheese so that is how I will write up the recipe.  I didn’t prefer eating this hot, I liked it better as a room temperature side dish or a cold side dish and it is even better served the next day!

Here is the video tutorial on making this brussels sprouts side dish, I changed out the cheeses so you have a choice but I prefer the stronger cheese flavor of the Parmesan then the Manchego.

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Thank you for visiting my site and I hope you enjoy this recipe.  

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Thank you again ~ Patty Limatola-Tanenbaum

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