roasted brussel sprouts for the sprout-hater

Everyone has that one food that they're just grossed out beyond words by, right? For me it's tomatoes (you can't even get me in the room if someone's cooking with them, they smell so bad). For Bunny? Brussels sprouts. Clearly he's the more normal of the two, because only weirdos don't like tomatoes and do like Brussels sprouts.

Bunny's hatred of the sprout runs pretty deep, and the last time he had one he would have been a kid. He promptly threw up all over the dinner table, apparently, and that was it for Brussels sprouts for him. I mean the man gets a pass, because that's some pretty intense food reaction right there.

Except I love me some sprouts. And there was maybe a half a pound of fresh Brussels sprouts in the crisper and damn if I wasn't going to cook them. This is the recipe that turned Bunny into a sprout lover, and he's since requested I make them again. So yeah, this is good. I also know his tastes in food, so this was tailored to his likings.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts in Bacon

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Brussels sprouts
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 strips of bacon
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. Trim off ends of sprouts and then cut into quarters. Toss bits in a baking dish. Some of the leaves will probably fall off, just put those in the baking dish as well. They'll be good.
3. In a sauté pan over medium heat, cook bacon until just barely cooked. The bacon will cook further in the oven so you don't want to let it get crispy, but you do want to get the bacon to release most of it's fat. This should take about five minutes, and you'll probably want to flip the bacon strips once or twice during that time.
4. Remove bacon from pan, set aside.
5. Drizzle bacon grease over the sprouts, trying to get things evenly coated. Toss the sprouts around a bit if you find some areas are greasier than others.
6. Put the pan back over heat, add the onions. Cook until just translucent, about five more minutes. The onions will soak up any bits of bacon grease that didn't pour over the sprouts.
7. Remove onions from the heat, add to the dish with your Brussels sprouts.
8. Roughly chop the bacon and sprinkle over the sprouts.
9. Mix your salt and Italian seasoning in with your breadcrumbs, then sprinkle that over your sprouts. Sprinkle your cheese.
10. Put the whole mess in the oven, bake for about 30 minutes. These are done when the edges of your sprouts are starting to brown.
11. Eat. Watch your avowed sprout-hating husband devour his portion and ask for more.
12. Then, go see your mother in law and tell her that you win at life. Do a victory dance. (This step is optional.)