recipe / brussel sprouts with asian pears & veggie bacon

Brussel sprouts have done a 180 from being a vegetable dreaded by kids and adults everywhere to a must-have trendy menu item. The other week, I was in San Francisco visiting a college friend and she took me to this restaurant called Zero Zero. For any of you in San Fran, I highly recommend this place. The cocktails are delicious and they have a lot of unique appetizers you can share around the table.

And, enter brussel sprouts. We ordered their Fried Brussels Sprouts with pancetta, asian pear, parsley lemon and chili, and we were all raving about this dish a few days later. So the other night, I decided to try it with a healthy twist - sans fried and subbing bacon for soy bacon.

Side Dish - Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

1 bushel of brussel sprouts - about 15-20 brussel sprouts

1 asian pear

3 slices Smart Bacon

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 a lemon, hand squeezed

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Rinse and peel brussel sprouts as necessary. I peeled off a few of the outer leaves that were slightly damaged. Next cut off the stem of the sprout and then cut it in half. Place halves in a large skillet and add 1 tbsp of olive oil, salt, pepper and chili powder. Heat over medium-high heat and stir frequently. Rinse and peel asian pear and chop into cubes. Add pear to skillet and squeeze half a lemon over the pan. Stir.

In a separate pan, add 1 tsp olive oil and cook smart bacon until crispy (about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through).

Tear bacon into small pieces, add to brussel sprouts and pears and serve.