Something about the cold just makes me want to curl up on a couch with a piping hot and…wait for it…SPICY dish. During the Seattle winters, I would frequent this little bar in the residential part of Ballard to warm myself up with some cocktails and tapas. At Essex, is where I discovered my love for brussels sprouts — cooked to crispness, topped with Sriracha and shaved parmesan.
With the early onset of winter in Chicago, and no Essex bar to turn to for comfort, I did a take on their Sriracha brussels sprouts — adding some Gujarati touches to it by balancing equal parts of sweet and spicy.
For the brussels sprouts
1 bag of brussels sprouts
2 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves of garlic finely chopped
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
For the sriracha-honey glaze
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp sriracha
½ tsp olive oil
juice of ½ a lime
What you do
Pre-heat your oven to 425°F.
Wash the brussels sprouts and remove any discolored leaves.
Mix the garlic with the olive oil and let it sit for a 2-3 minutes.
Remove the stem and cut the brussels sprouts in half length wise. Toss the brussels sprouts with the garlic-oilve oil and sprinkle some sea salt and the freshly ground black pepper.
Line a baking tray with aluminum foil and place the brussels sprouts face down. Sprinkle any of the remaining garlic-oil mixture on top. Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove the tray and using tongs flip all the brussels sprouts and bake for another 10 minutes.
Combine the Sriracha, honey, olive oil and lime juice to make the glaze. 2 tbsp of Sriracha is plenty to add a good kick to the dish, you can choose to turn up or down the spice levels by altering the amount of Sriracha you use.
The brussels sprouts will be hot, so use wooden spoons to toss them with the glaze.
Turn the broiler on to the high setting and place the brussels sprouts cut side up. Broil for 3-5 minutes to caramelize. When you notice some charring of the edges, take them out of the oven and serve hot.
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