3. Cook (and eat) Brussels Sprouts

This is the kind of thing that happens to me when I read another book about eating locally. This time it's Michael Pollan's book, "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. I've also devoured (so to speak) his previous book, "An Omnivore's Dilemma", where I learned that if I'm not careful, pretty much everything I eat is just a form of soy or corn, or that what I eat eats soy or corn. Made me go out and plant a bunch of lettuce in my backyard (what else do you plant in November in Louisiana?) to assuage the anxiety I was feeling upon discovering that Big Food Business has taken over my diet to its bottom line benefit and my health detriment.

Upon reading the latest, in which he recommends to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants", next thing you know, I've made a beeline down to the local farmers market and danged if I didn't end up with a passel of brussels sprouts. I didn't even know how to spell them, had to wiki them to see what they actually were: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout

Now you know as much as I do.

It makes intuitive sense to me to eat food that is locally grown. We all (sort of )share the same biological and ecological environment, and perhaps our respective bacteria, enzymes and other micro-stuff are compatible. I like being able to look the farmer who grows my food in the eye and assess what kind of person he or she is. I know that every week I can go back to their booth at the farmers market and let them know that I liked their food or that something wasn't quite up-to-speed with it.

I eyed the Brussels sprouts with skepticism, remembering childhood meals past when I took tentative micro-bites of boiled, tasteless miniature cabbage-looking things drowned in the ketchup I used to make it palatable, in the hopes that I could swallow without gagging. 'This is my year to Try New Things', I thought, bravely poking a container of Brussels sprouts with my finger. They were kind of cute, actually, mini-cabs that would look right at home as a boutonniere. "How do I cook these?", I asked the grower. As luck would have it, I was standing right next to a caterer, who was also buying Brussels sprouts to serve at a party that night. I was surprised by how her face lit up when she jumped in with a cooking suggestion.

"Boil them for a couple of minutes, then sprinkle olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and that's all there is to it," she said. "Some people roast them, too." Her eyes sparkled. Could it be? Were they actually edible, as some people claimed?

I was in. It was a sign from the Locavore Universe--it was my time to try my hand at making something scary taste good. Was I up for the challenge? I forked over my $2.50 for a carton and enjoyed the smug feeling I had as I walked back to my car. Why, I was practially healthier already!

Later, back in my kitchen, I decided to roast them instead of boiling. I was afraid boiling would make them too bland. I cranked up the oven on broil at around 400 degrees and spread out the Brussels sprouts on a cookie sheet. I drizzled olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and cracked pepper and salt over them and stuck them in the oven and checked them every few minutes. In less than 15 minutes, the tiny leaves around the base had turned crispy, and the core had softened. Amazingly, the taste was intriguing right off the pan but I wasn't satisfied yet. What if I grated fresh parmesan cheese over them? What if I added pumpkin seeds for crunch?

The result was delicious! There is a slight bitterness that the parmesan and the pumpkin seeds offset. I'm not a big fan of cooked cabbage, and there was a slight cabbage-y flavor that ultimately wasn't bad, but I still wasn't a fan. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best meal I've ever eaten, this fell into a solid 6. In the grand scheme of things, it feels really good to eat food that is whole and healthy, and I admit that often I succumb to a busy schedule and pre-prepared food, rather than taking the time to cook veggies in a way that I like, but often don't want to do.

I'd do this again, I like eating seasonal vegetables, and think, isn't this the way we're supposed to eat on a very basic level? I'm quite skeptical of how our culture pushes us toward processed food, and am shocked by ingredient lists that contain corn/soy in various forms. Is it really healthy to be a mono-foodie? Don't we benefit from biodiversity? I'm pretty confident that my Brussels sprouts didn't contain one molecule of corn or soy, and I feel pretty darned good about having taken the time to try a new food that I had formerly put in the No Way I'm Gonna Eat That category.