What about those Brussels sprouts?
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
Eugene, Oregon
March 28, 2016 9:18am CST
I was never served Brussels sprouts as a kid. I grew up in Texas with a west Texas born mother and those sprout things were way to foreign for us to try. We tended toward green beans (sometimes fresh), green peas (always canned). Salads were always iceberg lettuce and tomatoes with some kind of bland dressing.
I don’t know when I first tasted more exotic veggies like Brussels sprouts, but it was well into my teens after we moved to California, maybe at a girlfriend’s house, where I had to pretend to like everything.
Anyway, even since then, these little cabbage-like vegetables have changed, not due to genetic engineering really, but to selective improvement of the vegetable. Today’s sprouts are sweeter than the ones we ate back in the fifties and sixties, and we can buy them fresher.
Boiling them to death is a mistake; steaming or cutting them in half and stir frying them a little bit in some olive oil and seasonings makes them so delicious.
Do you still hate Brussels sprouts or do you serve them to your family?
Pixabay free image
29 people like this
26 responses
@fishtiger58 (29819)
• Momence, Illinois
28 Mar 16
love love love Brussel sprouts, we grow them every year and have them vacuum sealed in the freezer, when we don't eat them all in the summer and fall. I am going to try them your way, I usually steam them.
6 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
28 Mar 16
I am unlikely to give them another chance, although so many people seem to like them now. But your comments do give me pause.
4 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
28 Mar 16
It did not occur to me that today's crop is sweeter and tastes better until I heard Chris say it on America's Test Kitchen.
5 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
28 Mar 16
@JamesHxstatic I just remember them as being really nasty tasting.
2 people like this
@ElizabethWallace (12069)
• United States
29 Mar 16
@enlightenedpsych2 If I could figure out how to buy just a few, and try, I might. But where I shop for produce, you have to buy a huge stock of them.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
29 Mar 16
It seems these are a veggie some love to hate. We enjoy these in various ways, with these being stirred in hot olive oil and garlic as one of the best ways.
We also grind some to eat raw with cabbage salad (cole slaw to some) but most would find this gross and we know it.
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
28 Mar 16
Sorry to hear that, @LadyDuck. We only have them occasionally, but they are a nice addition.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502234)
• Italy
28 Mar 16
@JamesHxstatic There are many vegetables that I like and buy, the snow peas, asparagus, artichokes, bel peppers, spinach, zucchini, eggplants. I have a vast choice.
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
29 Mar 16
@LadyDuck I like all those but artichokes.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
28 Mar 16
i ne'er 'd those neither whilst i was growin' up. 'twas prolly 'bout 20 somethin' the first time i tried 'em? i adore 'em cut'n half, drizzled with olive oil 'n tossed with parm myself. baked'n the oven - what a treat! i fear i can't partake'n 'em any longer though. they jest don't get 'long with the crohn's sadly.
3 people like this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
29 Mar 16
@Auntylou i'm jest glad i can still eat, ms. janet. had a feedin' tube fer a few months 'n that was jest plum awful.
2 people like this
@Auntylou (4262)
• Oxford, England
30 Mar 16
@crazyhorseladycx Oh you poor soul. That sounds terrible. You are so good to keep so cheerful most of the time
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40844)
• Laguna Woods, California
29 Mar 16
I occasionally make Brussels sprouts, but they are not my favorite food. I will try cooking them the way you just suggested. I might like them better! 
2 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Mar 16
That is our favorite way to eat them. @enlightenedpsych2 mentions some interesting ways to cook them below too.
@celticeagle (189820)
• Boise, Idaho
29 Mar 16
Same here. I don't recall every having them as a child. But I really like them. I like them sauteed in olive oil or boiled and served with butter. I have recently seen some salad recipes with them in and would like to try them.
2 people like this
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
28 Mar 16
We never had them as kids - my mom never cooked these. All I know is I heard all my life from other kids and tv that brussel sprouts were gross. But then I tried them as an adult - and I thought they were quite delicious! I can see how overcooked ones might be gross.
1 person likes this
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
28 Mar 16
@JamesHxstatic I can see them rolling off the pizza!
I should mention I like mine steamed and tossed with caramelized onions and balsamic vinegar!
I can see them rolling off the pizza!
I should mention I like mine steamed and tossed with caramelized onions and balsamic vinegar!@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
28 Mar 16
I used to tell my daughter that I was going to order them on the pizza. I think she still likes them too.
2 people like this
@Drosophila (16568)
• Ireland
29 Mar 16
Oh cook it with bacon gives it a good flavour
1 person likes this
@Drosophila (16568)
• Ireland
31 Mar 16
@JamesHxstatic Then try chorizo? yum as well :)
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
31 Mar 16
I try to avoid bacon since it is so high in fat.
1 person likes this
@jillybean1222 (6406)
•
28 Mar 16
I never tried them either, as a child. I'm not sure why. My parents tended to make most veggies. I like them occasionally, like you said, with a little olive oil & garlic. I love to toss in some bacon. Of course, bacon makes EVERYTHING good, right?
1 person likes this
@jillybean1222 (6406)
•
30 Mar 16
@JamesHxstatic we buy the precooked kind and it's a little less fatty (somehow)
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Mar 16
@jillybean1222 Good idea, Jill!
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Mar 16
It does add a lot of flavor to everything, but we gave it up a year or so ago because of all that fat.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
28 Mar 16
I've always liked Brussels sprouts, and beets and all sorts of vegetables others found horrible. Now watermelon, I can not eat....it makes me gag.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Mar 16
Watermelon? Really? Beets are one of the few veggies I can't stand.
1 person likes this
@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
30 Mar 16
@JamesHxstatic I quite enjoy beets....good thing....it is the vegetable recommended when the. Gall bladder acts up.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Mar 16
That is probably why he hated them I suppose.
1 person likes this
@Auntylou (4262)
• Oxford, England
1 Apr 16
@JamesHxstatic It was just a family joke, I think he disliked them long before he met my auntie
1 person likes this
@Margielynn (693)
• United States
28 Mar 16
We love Brussels sprouts, I served them to my grandkids when they were young and they still eat them!
2 people like this
@Daljinder (23193)
• Bangalore, India
28 Mar 16
I love Brussels sprouts. We don't boil them. We cook them with adding spices.
2 people like this
@suziecat7 (3349)
• Asheville, North Carolina
28 Mar 16
Love Brussel sprouts. They were one of my mother's favorites so we grew up eating them.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Mar 16
You were lucky to get such good, nutritious vegetables.
1 person likes this
@infatuatedbby (94909)
• United States
28 Mar 16
I was first introduced to Brussel spouts from my sister - baked! Baked brussel sprouts are delicious - I never tried them any other way yet.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Mar 16
I have never had them baked, but may have to check them out.
1 person likes this
@LeaPea2417 (40026)
• Toccoa, Georgia
30 Mar 16
I love Brussel Sprouts. They are my favorite vegetable. I started eating them and liking them as a kid.
1 person likes this
. It amuses me to hear you call them 'exotic' - they were always around when we were kids. They were horrible then, and they are horrible now.@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Mar 16
In west Texas, they were exotic for sure. They are one of my faves now.
1 person likes this
@Ruby3881 (1963)
• Canada
14 Apr 16
Your mother and mine must have learned to cook in the same place! I can't tell you the number of foods I hadn't tasted until I was a teenager or an adult....
I love Brussels sprouts. Always have, from the first time I tasted them. They're hard to get fresh here - only a few times a year. But we can buy them frozen, and they aren't too bad that way I suppose. Any way I can get them, I consider them a real treat 
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
14 Apr 16
Right, the frozen ones are not bad at all.
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