New Foods Week Day 2: The Boys and Brussels

I think this might come as a surprise to many of you, given my mostly healthy, veggie and fruit-eating self, but nary a Brussels sprout has ever passed these lips. I've never had a desire to touch them, cook them, eat them. That is, until I kept seeing recipes incorporating these little balls of cabbage in one form or another.

As you know, I read a lot of cooking/healthy living types of pubs, and recently, Brussels keep making appearances. Therefore, I have decided they are trendy little things (HK!) and who am I to pass up on something trendy? And, of course given all of the health benefits of Brussels sprouts, this taste test seems like a long time coming.

Chicken with Brussels Sprouts and Mustard Sauce
Source: Cooking Light, December 2011

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 (6oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 tsp salt (skip)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (skip)
• 3/4 c. low-fat, lower sodium chicken broth (used no-salt added)
• 1/4 c. apple cider
• 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (skip)
• 12 oz. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add 1 tbsp oil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; add to pan. Cook 3 mins or until browned. Turn chicken; place pan in oven. Bake at 450 degrees for 9 mins or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.
• Heat pan over med-high heat. Add 1/2 c. broth and cider, bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce hat to med-low; simmer 4 mins or until thickened. Whisk in mustard, 1 tbsp butter and parsley.
• Heat remaining 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter in large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add Brussels sprouts; saute 2 mins or until lightly browned. Add remaining salt and 1/4 c. broth to pan; cover and cook 4 mins or until crisp-tender. Serve sprouts with chicken and sauce.

Yield: 4 servings (1 chicken breast; 2/3 c. Brussels sprouts; 2 tbsp sauce)
Per serving: 355 cals; 14.9g fat (5.2g sat, 7.2g mono, 1.5g poly); 42.8g protein; 11.6g carb; 114mg chol; 647mg sodium

Reviews:
The kid has a tip for all of you parents out there, trying to get their children to try something new: "Don't tell them what it is before they try it." Sage advice from the young man. He was the first of all of us to put in a forkful of the sprouts, and he managed to choke down a few more before calling it quits. I thought the sprouts were good - better than expected - and - hold onto your chairs - the HUBS ate every bit of his sprout serving (although he tried to pass it off that he liked them only because he has a cold and can't taste them anyway). We all decided that the Brussels sprouts were good - not worthy of a weekly appearance at our dinner table - but we are all going to embrace the sprouts again in the future. As for the chicken recipe - it was just so-so. Nothing special, sauce didn't add much.

Ranking:
Two Forks - for the overall recipe