The Best Brussels Sprouts Recipe (Vegan)

Sam loves the idea of Brussels sprouts, and I finally came up with a way to cook them that she loves as well (we all do). When I first started cooking them, I cooked them the way I cook broccoli -- 1/4 inch of water in a cast iron skillet, add the broccoli, boil off the water turning the vegetables as they cook, then saute them with olive oil and salt and pepper. She loved peeling the outer leaves off the Brussels sprouts like string cheese. The outer leaves had a wonderful sauteed flavor with the olive oil and salt and pepper. She never liked the insides of the Brussels sprouts though, and truthfully, neither did I nor my husband. So I decided to do something about it. Sam doesn't get to peel the Brussels sprouts anymore with this recipe, but I do let her pick up the leaves and eat them with her fingers. The following recipe is our favorite way to eat Brussels sprouts now.

The Best Brussels Sprouts Recipe

6 Brussels sprouts
Water
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

To prepare the Brussels sprouts, wash and dry them. Take a Brussels sprout and cut off the stem up to the base of the leaves. Next peel each leaf off, cutting more off along the stem base as you go, until the leaves are too small and you can't pull them off anymore and are left with the core. Do this for each Brussels sprout; keep the leaves and discard the cores.


Put 1/4" of water in a medium skillet (I use a medium-sized cast iron pan). Add the Brussels sprout leaves and heat the water to boiling over High heat. Use metal tongs to turn the leaves every few minutes or so while the water is boiling off. It will take about 10-15 minutes for the water to boil off, leaving just the cooked Brussels sprout leaves. Turn the heat down to Medium Low and drizzle a little olive oil over the Brussels sprout leaves and salt and pepper to taste. Saute the Brussels sprout leaves for a few minutes until they start to brown. Serves 2 adults (and one small child) as a vegetable side dish.