Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Horseradish

Easy, cheap, and tasty: these are my three criteria for a perfect recipe. This one hits those nails right on the head!

At the farmer's market last week, I found Brussels sprouts for sale in those little plastic baskets they usually sell berries in. $1 a basket - such a deal! I bought two baskets and then came home and looked for recipes for them.

I stumbled on this recipe on one of my favorite food sites, Eating Well. The recipe calls for just four ingredients: Brussels sprouts, sour cream, horseradish, and bacon. Yes, bacon! I adjusted the recipe for what I had on hand: I didn't have sour cream, but I did have plain low-fat yogurt, which is a sure-fire sour cream substitute in every possible recipe. Also, I only had two pieces of bacon left. (I know, the injustice of it all!) The sprouts cooked up quickly, the assembly was a snap, and they were delicious! Don't be afraid of the horseradish - there is just enough to have a surprise and welcome bite, and cut through the fat of the bacon and the creaminess of the yogurt, but it is certainly not hot. Easy? Check. Cheap? Yup. Tasty? Oh yes, we hit the trifecta!

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Horseradish

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bacon
• about one pound of Brussels sprouts
• 1/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

Directions:

1.  Fry the bacon. You want it pretty crispy. When it's done, put the bacon on some paper towels to soak up the grease. Do NOT drain the fat from the pan.
2. While the bacon is cooking, prepare the sprouts: wash them, cut off the stem ends, and slice in half lengthwise. You can keep any leaves that come off in the slicing process, as long as they are healthy and green. Remove any that are yellow or spotty.
3. Add the sprouts to the pan with the bacon grease. Saute for 5 minutes until they start to get a little golden. Add a tablespoon or two of water to the pan and cover with a lid, so you are now steaming them. Let them steam for about 5 minutes, then remove the lid and brown them a little again, maybe two or three minutes.
4. While the sprouts are steaming, combine yogurt and horseradish in a large bowl. When the sprouts are cooked through (you want them tender but not too soft; keep a little toothsomeness) add them to the yogurt mixture. Stir well to combine. Chop the bacon roughly and either sprinkle on top or mix into yogurt mixture. Taste for salt (depending on your bacon, you may not need any, but mine needed just a little.)

To make this vegetarian, either don't add the bacon (duh), or use veggie bacon or veggie chorizo.