Recipes, Vegetarian

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries and Apples

Diana Kuan ·

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Happy Thanksgiving week!

It seems like everyone I’ve talked to is just eager to finish up work before taking the rest of the week off. I’ve also been running around doing errands and tying up loose ends with work before the Thanksgiving cooking madness begins. This year I’m visiting a close college friend in Nashville, and she has tasked me with helping her plan the big turkey day feast.

There are some picky eaters in the group, so menu planning is a little tricky, but fortunately we seem to all agree on brussels sprouts. Which is a good thing, because brussels sprouts gets a bad rap from many people who were used to eating them steamed or boiled to mush when they were children, and as adults still have a prejudice against them. I grew up in a Chinese family, so I was spared from eating mushy brussels sprouts as a kid. So when I tried them for the first time in my 20s at a restaurant, roasted with beautiful crispy leaves, I was instantly hooked.

My go-to method for preparing brussels sprouts is just tossing them in copious amounts of olive oil with a generous dusting of salt and freshly ground pepper, then roasting for 20 to 25 minutes. It’s so fool-proof that I haven’t deviated for years. But this year I wanted to get out of the rut and maybe throw in some festive fall touches. And what’s more “fall” than apples and cranberries?

The addition of those two ingredients add some nice color and a bit of sweetness to the dish. This is still a very simple recipe. But when you’re busy preparing a 20-pound turkey, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, and pies, knowing you have one side dish that is easy and pretty has a miraculously calming effect.

I hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries and Apples

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 pound brussels sprouts
  • 1 Gala, McIntosh, Fuji, or Empire apple
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Trim the hard ends from the brussels sprouts and cut each in half length-wise. Place the brussels sprouts on one side of a large baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper until well-coated.
  3. Cut the apple into thin, bite-sized slices. Place the apple slices on the other half of the large baking sheet and toss with just olive oil until well-coated.
  4. Bake the brussels sprouts and apple slices for 2o to 25 minutes, until the brussels sprouts start to crisp on the top and bottom. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the brussels sprouts and apple slices to a serving dish. Toss with dried cranberries and serve.


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