Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

As I say in my bio, my husband is a picky eater. But together (my cooking skills and his inability to cook) we've expanded his palate to eat all sorts of things. One of the things that seemed really challenging at first, but was made pretty simple was dark green veggies. Loaded with nutrients and hated by everyone who doesn't love veggies. How did I get him to like/tolerate them? Cooking them with bacon, of course!

Here is a dead-easy recipe that you can toss in a pan while preparing other aspects of your meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 5 cups or so brussel sprouts
• A bit of water

Let's do it!

1. Heat a pan to medium and put the bacon in there. You're going to let it crisp up and let all the fat render (turn into liquid).
2. Cut the bottoms off the brussel sprouts and slice each one lengthwise, then horizontally. So you have four pieces. The leaves will fall apart. That's kind of the point. Put them all in a big bowl and shake them around to separate them.
3. Pour off the bacon grease into a heat-safe container, like a mason jar. Or, if you're me, pour it into a mason jar that you keep in the fridge so you can use bacon grease in lieu of oil. It's basically FREE INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS OIL.
4. Throw in the brussel sprouts and stir until well mixed, and every piece has had a chance to hit the grease on the bottom of the pan.
5. Put about 1/4 cup of water into the pan and cover for 5 minutes.
6. Take off cover and stir fry some more. I like them to be browned a bit, so I fried them until they were browned in spots.

Lunch it up!
This is a great side dish for anything. I'm having it with chicken and rice!

Pasta with bacon and brussel sprouts

If you don't like brussel sprouts, this dish is not likely to change your mind. But if you LOVE brussel sprouts, then hurray! I really enjoyed this dish, but it's not the best thing I've ever made. Oddly enough, the Hubster is NOT a fan of brussel sprouts, but still really enjoyed this pasta. Probably because the sauce is basically bacon grease.

Ingredients

• 4 servings of dry pasta
• 4 slices thick cut bacon
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 cups brussel sprouts, washed and cut in half lengthwise (or in 1/4s. I wish I did this)
• Salt
• Olive oil

Let's do it!

1. Boil the pasta according to directions, but for 1 minute less than specified. When it's done, take the pasta out with a strainer/pasta ladle and put aside. Keep the pasta water. While that's going on, do the rest of the steps.
2. Cut bacon widthwise into thin strips. Fry in a pan until almost crispy. Pour out all but 1 tbsp of the bacon grease and put the bacon in a dish for later. If you're me, you'll be pouring the bacon grease into a mason jar to put in the fridge for later. It's great for making greens taste (and be) less healthy.
3. Throw the brussel sprouts in the pan and stir to coat. Then leave them alone so that they can brown for a few minutes. Stir every few minutes so that every surface is browned, but nothing burns. 
4. Add 2 tbsp or so of olive oil, bacon and pasta. Add one or two ladles of the pasta water, which is full of starch and will help the pasta absorb the flavour. 
5. Stir this around until the pasta is cooked and the water is absorbed.
6. Season with salt (I added a LOT of salt), or parmesan cheese, which will probably mean you can use less salt.

Lunch it up!

I know I have strict rules about not microwaving pasta, but this is all mixed together, and it's really not as good cold. I just put this on a dish and nuked it, and it tasted just as good as the night before. Maybe even better!

Egg and Bacon Salad Sandwich

If you have high cholesterol, you should really not make this sandwich. Everyone else, prepare for deliciousness!

I don't have a photo of this sandwich because when I ate it, I was super hungry and just couldn't take the time. Sorry. But it looks exactly the way it sounds.

Ingredients for 2-3 servings
4 eggs
2 slices of bacon
1 tbsp sweet relish
1/2 tsp grainy mustard
1/4 minced onion
1 tbsp mayo or more
Optional: Minced celery, capers, any other veggies you may have laying around that you want to use up.

Let's do it!
Put the eggs in a small pot and cover with water. Put on the stove on high until the water boils. When the water boils, cover and put the pot aside for at least 10 minutes. The eggs will be hardboiled after this time.

Heat up a pan on medium high and put the bacon on it. Turn over when it starts getting curly. Cook until crisp, then lay on paper towels to drain. When it's dry and cool, crush it up into little pieces.

Peel the eggs, chop them and put them in a bowl along with everything else. Mix well, taste and add more mayo, salt, ground pepper as needed. Put between two pieces of bread (whole wheat, preferably) with some lettuce or spinach or whatever.

Quick note: The best way I've found to peel eggs is to crack the egg all around the middle of it (the top being the narrow part, the bottom being the wider part). Peel away the middle, then pull the two remaining halves apart. You may need to rinse the egg after. There's also this method but every time I try it, I feel like I'm going to explode my ear drums.

Yayyyy!!