Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts - A Pinterest Experiment

In addition to being a foodie, I'm most definitely a recipe hoarder, and there's no better way to amass a random variety of recipes than...Pinterest. I'll speak more on my collection of cookbooks and family recipes in another post, but tonight, the recipe is from the interwebs.

My cousin saw me "pin" a recipe for Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts, and suggested that it be used for a coming blog. So here we are - I even happened to have all the ingredients at home, including those mini-cabbage like vegetables.

Here's what I needed for tonight's adventure, and the swaps/additions I did:

1 lb. brussels sprouts, stem removed & cut in half
2/3 cup fresh cranberries (I used dried cherries)
1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese (I swapped for blue cheese)
1/3 cup pecans
1 cup barley, cooked per the instructions on the package
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

I started the barley first, since the package said it took 45 minutes to cook, then prepped my sprouts, and gathered everything else. About halfway through cooking the barley, I added the oil to the pan, and then threw in the sprouts and the cherries (I thought I had cranberries, at least dried ones...I was wrong). I let that cook for about 8-10 minutes on medium, seasoned with salt & pepper, then tossed in the pecans. Next time, I'll likely toast the pecans first - then they have a little extra crunch, and the flavors are just that much more amazing. At that point, I also added some bacon...not part of the original recipe, but looking at the other ingredients, it sounded like it would fit (and it did!).

Cooking away - before the additions of the maple syrup, vinegar, barley & blue cheese.

Once the sprouts, cherries, bacon and pecans were cooked, the maple syrup and balsamic go into the pan. At that point, it's darn near done. Luckily, by then the barley was done, so I tossed that into the sprouts. To top it off, a sprinkling of blue cheese.

All done, just without the blue cheese

I have to say, SO AWESOME. I'm glad I added the bacon - it adds a little extra punch. And next time I think the barley needs to be seasoned a bit more. I ended up having just this for dinner, and I bet if it needed to be altered to accommodate a gluten-free diet, quinoa would be a wonderful substitute.

I'd recommend this recipe...it was good, filling, and easy. SO easy. Bon Appetit!

The final product!