Recipe: Honey-less mustard roasted Brussels sprouts

After living in my new place for a couple weeks, I'm starting to settle into a routine of working out after work, showering, and then forgetting to eat or drinking martinis and then really forgetting to eat.  D'oh!  Anorexia is so 2005, so I need to start cooking again.  Stat.

Last night I mustered up a little bit of strength to try out a new recipe I found over at VegWeb for roasted Brussels sprouts with a sweet dijon mustard sauce.  It's supposed to mimic a honey mustard sauce, but since this is a vegan recipe, it uses agave nectar instead of honey.  Sounds fancy right?  Not so much.  This may be one of the easiest recipes I've tried out in awhile.  (by the way, another goal of mine for 2010 is learning how to cook simple food - I picked up Nava Atlas' cookbook - Vegetarian 5 Ingredient Gourmet - more to follow on that in subsequent posts)

I was trying to do a few things at once, so I really didn't follow the recipe.  But I don't think that matters.  The Brussels sprouts still turned out pretty well.

Ingredients:

- 1 package fresh Brussels sprouts (about 20-30)
- 1/4 cup dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar
- 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

- salt, pepper, garlic powder, and any spices you like

- cooking spray

Method:

1. Chop off stems of the Brussels sprouts and remove the outer leaves. Cut sprouts in half - it helps the flavor sink in.

2. The original recipe says to "spray the bottom of a baking dish w/ cooking spray."  I don't own cooking spray, and I'm running short on baking dishes, so I lightly greased a cookie sheet lined in foil. 

3. Major deviation from original recipe - I made the mustard sauce (by mixing mustard, agave, and lemon juice)  and tossed the Brussels sprouts in it before I put them in the oven.  Again, to try and lock in more flavor.  If you're not into that, feel free to make the mustard sauce and toss in the sprouts after they're done roasting.

4. Roast sprouts in oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes or so, stirring every 5-7 minutes.

5. When the Brussels sprouts are roasted to your liking, take out of the oven and enjoy!  (or pour mustard sauce over if you haven't already done so)

I'm honestly not the biggest mustard fan, but I do love me some Brussels sprouts.  I think I still like roasting sprouts in oil, garlic, and soy sauce a bit more than I liked this recipe, but if you like honey mustard, or agave mustard, as the case may be, this is a good, relatively low calorie recipe to check out.