Bacon Laced Brussel Sprouts

I’m all about giving credit where credit is due.  And right now credit is definitely due to one of my best friends and her fiance.  She came up with this bacon brussel sprout goodness and was nice enough to spread the wealth and share it with me.  When she was explaining it to me at the gym, the sight of her fiance emphatically nodding until I thought his head might fall off made me think: definitely worth a try.

Brussels can sometimes be annoying because they do take a while to bake (and at high heat), but the end product is always worth it – and unlike some other cooked veggies, they keep really well for leftovers the next day.

Badass Brussels

The cool thing is that now (or maybe it’s not a new thing and I was just ignorant before), they sell brussels on a stalk.  Now, I’m not sure if there is any real benefit to buying them that way BUT – let me tell you – when you’re walking around a grocery store with basically a TREE of brussel sprouts…you look badass. People stare and think, wow…badass. Try it.

BACON LACED BRUSSEL SPROUTS

INGREDIENTS:

1 stalk of brussel sprouts

1/2 – 1lb of bacon

Olive oil or coconut oil

Cumin

Cayenne Pepper

Black Pepper

Garlic and/or garlic salt

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat your oven to 375.  If you bought the brussels on a stalk, break them off of the stalk and place them into a glass baking dish.  Coat them with olive oil or melted coconut oil, and then season them.

You can get creative with your seasoning options: I really like the above combo of cumin, cayenne, black pepper and garlic powder.  Some more great ideas would be: chipotle powder, chili powder, avocado oil – get creative!

Mix well with your hands to ensure brussels are all coated with your seasonings and oil.  Bake for 20 minutes.

While they are baking, cut up your bacon into small squares.  After 20 minutes, pull the brussels out of the oven.  Now you’re going to make an entire layer of bacon over the brussels.  I’m talking ZERO GREEN SHOWING HERE PEOPLE.

This was pre-second layer of bacon...

Once you’ve created your bacon layer, bake for another 20-25 minutes, or until your bacon is cooked. The grease from the bacon will drip down into your brussel sprouts and basically create Jesus in a baking dish.  Mix with a big spoon and SERVE.

Enjoy with some sugar free ketchup or spicy mustard!

Peace love and paleo ovoxo