Recipe: Bacon and Lemon Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I prefer my brussels roasted, and, well, bacon never hurt anyone.  If you feel the same way, this recipe is for you.  It is salty, sweet, tart, and nutty.  Best of all, it takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.

I like my brussels with a light brown crust, so I slice each one in half before they go into the pan and cover with extra virgin olive oil…or in this case, delicious bacon fat.                   

The salty bacon, sweet, caramelized onions, and a quick squeeze of lemon makes this a go-to side dish.

Recipe: Bacon and Lemon Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

1 lb brussels sprouts

5 pieces of thick-sliced bacon

half of a medium yellow onion, diced

the juice of half a lemon

1 TB of extra virgin olive oil (if needed)

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the bacon in half-inch pieces and place in a skillet on medium heat.  Next, dice up about half of a small yellow onion.  As the bacon begins to crisp, throw in the onions and give it a good stir.

While the bacon and onions are sautéing, cut the stems off the brussels spouts, and slice each in half, long ways.  The top few leaves of each one will also most likely need to be removed if they are discolored.  Don’t be afraid of throwing some of the additional leaves that happen to fall off some of the sprouts in the mix.  Their crunchy texture will only add to the dish.  Throw all of the sprouts on a cookie sheet.

Continue to stir the onions and bacon until the onions are translucent, and the bacon is browned, but not too crisp.  Pour the contents of the skillet (including the grease) onto the brussels sprouts in the cookie sheet.  This is when you make the decision if the dish needs a bit more oil.  If the bacon grease is not enough to partially cover each sprout, you may want to add a bit of extra virgin olive oil…I usually do.  Finally, squeeze the lemon juice on the sprouts along with salt and fresh ground pepper.  Mix everything up once more with a spoon, and place in the oven for 20 minutes or until brown.