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!