Good Eats // A Fruity Way to Enjoy Brussel Sprouts

I did it! During our recent Healthy Start 7 eating challenge, I conquered brussel sprouts for our family. I made them, well, de-licious. Yay! (I wanted to do a cartwheel after cooking these, I was that excited.) And, as always with my favorite recipes, they were super simple to make.

Ingredients::
1/2 pound brussel sprouts (fresh)
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black ground pepper
1/4 C chopped pecans
About 12 grapes, halved or quartered

How to make it::
1. Core your brussel sprouts. This is not the easiest part, but once you get the hang of it, it does go rather quickly.  First, it helps to slice off the hard stem. It also helps to think of these as baby cabbages for me. Then take a look at the hard white center inside. What you want to do is carve that out. It's bitter and the main reason, I believe, people don't eat this tasty veggie more often. The leaves of the brussel sprout (baby cabbage) are awesome and good for you. So give it a shot. Core those suckers.
2. Once cored, peel the leaves. You don't have to be gentle here and do them one by one...that would take too long. Just peel off the outer leaves however they come off is fine, ripped, whole, whatever. Toss them in a bowl. When you get down to leaves that have no green and are only hard and white. Discard them. If it isn't green, it's most likely bitter. If it's some green, it's probably good. Use your own judgement.
3. Take all your baby cabbage leaves (I mean brussel sprouts) and toss them in the olive oil and generous sea salt and black pepper to your taste (the measurements above are suggestions).
4. Add tossed leaves to a pan on medium heat. You don't want to burn them, just sauté them so don't get it too hot. Cook until they just before they wilt a bit.
5. Add pecans and grapes and cook until the grapes are warmed, 1-2 minutes more. Serve.

Enjoy these with a Chili Lime Sweet Potato as a vegetarian meal or alongside your favorite chicken, beef, or other protein.