Adventures in Trying New Foods: Brussels Sprouts and Cabbage Update

You know what’s funny? Even after I had January’s experiment of trying out kale successfully knocked out of the way, by the time February had rolled around, I had to literally force myself to pick up that month's food in the grocery store. When I wrote “Brussels sprouts” on my grocery list, I gagged a little.

That’s why I’m glad that I made this goal to try one new food each month. (You can see my original list of all the foods I’m planning on trying throughout the year here.) It’s not much, but it’s the motivation I need to actually do it. Otherwise, I’d still be gagging and sautéing green beans instead of Brussels sprouts or chopping up lettuce instead of kale.

With February, when I was trying out Brussels sprouts, I wanted to ace having them roasted, since that’s one of my favorite ways of preparing veggies. The first time I roasted them (quite simply by halving them and roasting them in a dish with olive oil, salt and pepper), I didn’t give them enough time so they were still tough. The second time, I let them bake a lot longer—almost an hour, I think—until they were crispy out the outside edges and fall-apart-soft on the inside. That was a lot better!

The third attempt I made for the month was a slight variation on the simple approach, which was to drizzle some balsamic vinegar over them once they were roasted and to make a sort of salad with them, mixing in walnuts and raisins, thanks to a recipe I ripped out of a random magazine.

Pretty good!

I’d still like to try to some more adventurous recipes with Brussels sprouts, but before I could, March was here and I was still trying to use up the last of my Brussels sprouts. Then we went out of town for a few days. And you know, other stuff happened, too.

Which meant that I never got around to picking up the cabbage that I was supposed to try for March. I guess that’s real life for you, huh? Sometimes even with the best of intentions we fall a little short.

Regardless, for April, I’m going to try to make up and double-up and try both lentils and cabbage. Think I can make up for lost time? Well, I’ll let you know how that goes in a few weeks. If you have any cabbage or lentil recipes, please let me know! I can always use all the help I can get!

You can read about why I started this goal to try a new food each month (as well as a list of the different foods I aim to try out each month), and you can follow some of the recipes I want to try on my food adventures Pinterest board.

Related Posts
My Goal to Try a New Food Each Month
Adventures in Trying New Foods: Kale Update

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