Brussel Sprout Saga

I never liked Brussel Sprouts as a kid...nor did I like cabbage of any kind, even cole slaw.  But now, as an adult, I like cole slaw (although I'm picky about it) and I love the cabbage boiled with corned beef, so I decided to give brussel sprouts another shot, since essentially they are itty bitty cabbages right?

Adam and I went to Trader Joes yesterday and they had these brussel sprout stalks there looking just like these: 

And Adam was all "Trees, mama, look TREES!"

So I figured now was as good a time as any (and since they are so cheap this season) to try and like these little guys.

I went home and googled for a recipe.  I had heard that roasted brussel sprouts will convert anyone who doesn't like them because it changes the flavor rather then steaming them, so I found one on Cooking Light called Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Ham and Garlic.

Healthy, and sounded delicious.

Okay, so basically it called for brussel sprouts cut in half in a baking dish with olive oil, garlic, chopped ham, lemon juice and salt and then roasted in the oven for 30 minutes.

Then you sprinkle parmesan and bread crumbs over the top before serving.

Sounded good and looked good, only they weren't so great.  They were edible, but definately missing something.  They were dry, and not very flavorful.  Hubs tasted them while I choked down a whole serving. Then I wrapped them up and stuck them in the fridge figuring I could docter them up for lunch the next day.

Which I did...and I sent hubs the following email:

so I ate the rest of the brussell sprouts for lunch.  Those things weren't half bad with butter, salt, lemon and more parmesan added...LOL
So much for that whole "healthy" aspect eh?
I'm gonna toss that recipe and call it a giant FAIL

And then I thought "how lame am I?  he's not gonna give a crap about the damn brussel sprouts"

(course he's had jury duty for the last 3 days, so he's bored out of his mind)

Only I was wrong...he responded with the following:

You don't have to call it a fail, I liked the roasted aspect of it  I just think it needed a little more flavor and some taste would have been good. The parmesan cheese made it a little bit better taste wise but the dryness of the sprouts and the cheese caused the feeling similar too licking a sand dune. (I should say a tasty dune).apparently there has been a good reason why Brussels sprouts have been unpopular with the younger generations. In fact last night's meal brought up some obviously repressed memories for me. I had flashbacks of crying at my parents table pleading with them to "please don't make me eat that, it tastes like feet". This of course then brought up memories of the ill treatment my sister forced me to endure. So let's not think of last night's meal as a failure because while the dish itself lacked any hint of taste or flavor -  we must try to think of it as a chance for therapy. A rare chance at being able to confront the pain we went through as children. If you plan on making this dish again I have some suggestions.  The sprouts have a unique taste that would be better accompanied with something tangy like basalmic vinegar . If you roasted them the way you did and had a sauce of some sort it would have been great. We should try it again sometime. And next time you desire some therapy may I suggest a kidney bean or a liver
Love ya

Ummmmm, allrighty then hubs.  I underestimated the amount of boredom he must have been experiencing.

Do you see what I'm dealing with over here?  LOL!

(for the record, I tried to give AJ a sprout and he shook his head and said "no thank you mama, I no like it" - so hey, at least he was polite about it! hahaha)