This day and age, when you think about brussels sprouts, you think about roasting. (Thankfully the days of sad boiled sprouts are over.) And there's nothing wrong with that. Roasted vegetables are super flavorful and they're always pretty easy. But what if you're impatient (read: hangry) and don't want to wait the half hour they take to bake?
Start them in a cold pan.
I'm dead serious. Forget what everyone tells you about properly preheating your skillet. Nothing that normally indicates to you that a pan is ready (the water sizzle test or the glistening oil) applies here. Because if you add the brussels sprouts to a hot pan with hot oil, the outsides will crisp too quickly and the insides will never cook through. (Hence, why everyone roasts their sprouts.) When you start brussels sprouts in a cold pan, however, the searing process takes longer and the veggies have more time to get tender. It's a trick we picked up from Cook's Illustrated and couldn't wait to share with you. Here's how you do it:
Add an even layer of halved brussels sprouts to a nonstick skillet, cut sides down. Drizzle them all over with olive oil, cover the skillet, and place over medium-high heat. Cook until the sprouts are bright green (about 5 minutes), then uncover and continue to cook until the cut sides are deeply golden (about 2 more minutes). Season them off heat and voila! All that's left to do is eat them.
The brussels sprouts stay bright green in color (something you lose with roasting) and the bottoms get intensely caramelized. We highly recommend the process and have just one small piece of advice: Use small brussels sprouts! We tested this process with average-sized brussels sprouts and almost burnt them. If you all you have is big sprouts, that's okay. You'll just need to monitor the heat more closely and cook them a little longer.
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