Brussels sprouts have to be one of our favourite vegetables. I really don’t know why I didn’t enjoy these when I was a kid, but they have become a regular staple on our grocery list. I quite often find myself cooking up way more than we need so I can eat the roasted sprouts cold the next day as a delicious snack 🙂

Normally, Jamie and I cook roast our sprouts in the oven with some olive oil and spices. Sometimes we add some lemon juice, but not always. However I had a predicament, when I had purchased Brussels sprouts, but our oven was full with other casserole dishes. There was no room to roast the sprouts!

Now, I know that Brussels sprouts can be boiled and that is maybe a more common way to cook them, but we like ours roasted, so I went to the internet to see if I could find a method that wouild mimic roasting, but could be performed stove-top. Martha Stewart to the rescue!

After reading through a couple of recipes I saw one from Martha in my Google search and before I even opened up the link, I knew that this would be the one I would choose. Brussels sprouts and lemons. I knew I was going to like it already.

It was actually really easy. All you had to do was quarter up your sprouts and then cook them with some water (I used chicken stock to impart more flavour). Once all the liquid had cooked down, you add in olive oil to roast the cooked sprouts in your hot pan. When they are finished, toss them with some lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice. So simple!

Now, the original recipe indicated that you add in the olive oil and raise the heat to medium high and cook (without stirring) for five to seven minutes. Maybe our oven is really hot, but before the timer had reached five minutes, I could smell some of the sprouts burning. I quickly lowered the heat and stirred the sprouts to save them.

The sprouts that were touching the bottom of the pan were a bit charred (oops!), but besides that small mishap, they were quite good. Besides the couple of burnt sprouts, the rest tasted just like they had been roasted in the oven.

I will have to try this again to master the technique, and maybe pay a bit more attention to the heat that is produced from our stove-top, but I was glad to stumble across this recipe. It means that in the summer months, we can have the deliciousness of Brussels sprouts without having to turn on the oven.

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Martha Stewart – Caramelized Brussels Sprouts with Lemon

Ingredients:

• 4 cups Brussels sprouts, quartered
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• Salt & Pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• juice and zest from one lemon

Directions:

1. In a skillet, combine sprouts and 1/2 cup chicken stock; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the stock has evaporated and sprouts are crisp-tender, 5 to 8 minutes (add 1/4 cup more stock if skillet becomes dry before sprouts are done).
2. Increase heat to medium-high; add oil to skillet. Continue to cook, uncovered, without stirring until sprouts are golden brown on underside, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and zest; season with salt and pepper. Serve with lemon slices.