Brussels Sprouts, Friend or Foe?

Well...that depends on how you cook 'em.

Brussels sprouts belong to the cabbage family, and tend to get a bad rap. It's probably the smell, which is not unlike a teenager's feet after hours of basketball in wool socks. But if you use fresh sprouts and don’t overcook them, they’re like little balls of goodness.

First off, try to buy the freshest Brussels sprouts you can find. Avoid the large ones, as they tend to have the strongest flavour. Instead, opt for sprouts with a one- to one-and-a-half-inch diameter. Use them within a couple of days of their purchase.

Select firm, tender heads free of insects—okay, I guess that last bit should go without saying. Pick ones with stems that look freshly cut.

These hardy little cousins of the cabbage are actually high in protein, albeit an incomplete protein, lacking the full spectrum of amino acids. Serve them with some whole grains, and voila, there’s your complete protein.

Now for the cooking part: don’t, I repeat, don’t overcook them, or you’ll be left with the bloated, bitter, mushy mess of your nightmares, and that sulphery smell to boot.

Once they start losing their bright green hue, you’ve cooked them too long. They also lose a lot of their nutritional value at this point, so serve them bright green and beautiful.

If you’re cooking them whole, cut an X in the bottom of the stem for even cooking.

Personally, I like to “disassemble” the sprouts and sauté the leaves. I'm not a huge fan of the consistency of whole sprouts. Simply cut off the edge of the stem and peel away the leaves. Then sauté them in oil or butter with some garlic, salt and pepper, and you’re good to go.

In Keys to Good Cooking, food scientist Harold McGee suggests cutting the sprouts in half or pulling them apart and boiling them to rid them of their bitter flavour. The boiling leaches out the bitter compounds (and some of their nutritional value).