Roasted crispy Brussels sprouts and roasted sweet carrots recipe

Posted by Sometimes I wish our lovely and nice bosses would give us time off to celebrate Thanksgiving twice.. the Canadian one AND the American Thanksgiving coming up pretty soon.  Ah wells, at least it gives me time to type up new recipes I made for Canadian Thanksgiving (and since then) in time for folks to try things out for the US Thanksgiving!  Watch the blog next week for how to brine and roast a chicken... and how to scale it up for a turkey!  This week its simple sides: roasting crispy chip like Brussels sprouts and tender sweet roasted carrots.



Now, I used to hate brussels sprouts with a passion... mainly cuz my mom had no idea how to cook them.  They were brownish-green overcooked balls of icky bitter mushiness that resembled orbs of torture that was "good for you" rather than tasty.  Luckily, this version is so far removed from the brussels sprouts of my childhood that yes, they're addictively good and when hot out of the oven are crispy like chips.. and disappear like junk food!  What's the main difference - simple... fast cooking time in a really hot oven carmelizes the suckers so they taste sweet, plus the bonus heat crisps them up like chips - but totally guilt free!  And the best part? Its so easy to make, your friends and family won't believe you until you show them how its done:

Step 1: Stick your oven rack to the middle of the oven and preheat your oven to 400F or 425F (you have to pay attention to make sure your veges don't burn but it cuts down cooking time by around 10min)

Step 2: Clean your sprouts by giving them a good rinse under the tap, shake off the water and trim off any leaves that aren't nice and green (get rid of the brown icky leaves).  Cut them in half.

Step 3: Toss them in 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil (I use 2 teaspoons for 3 cups of sprouts), or spray lightly with an oil sprayer like a Misto... eyeball it as you just want to lightly coat the sprouts in oil (not drown them), sprinkle with coarse sea salt and pepper.  If you're roasting carrots too - wash, trim and lightly coat them in oil as well

Step 4: Dump veges onto a heavy duty non-stick Wilton's cookie sheets as its nice and heavy duty and super easy to clean up) or foil lined cookie pan and arrange the sprouts cut side up.

Step 5: Pop into oven for 20-30 min, turning them over half way through.

Step 6: Enjoy the crispy brussels sprouts and roasted carrots as is, with a bit of butter or drizzled with a balsamic syrup