Taste: Shortcuts, like these air-fryer brussels sprouts, can be delicious

Katherine Grandstrand
·3 min read
Air frying frozen brussels sprouts is one of the easiest and most delicious short cuts one can take in the kitchen.
Air frying frozen brussels sprouts is one of the easiest and most delicious short cuts one can take in the kitchen.

I made brownies from a boxed mix the other night.

Not because I don’t know how to make brownies from scratch, and not because I’ll never make brownies from scratch again.

I made brownies from a box because I wanted something chocolatey and didn’t want to put a lot of thought into making said chocolate treat. There are also a lot of boxed brownie mixes at my house because a local grocery store is practically giving them away.

As soon as I made this pan of brownies, another mix appeared at my house. I wish I was kidding.

The brownies were good. Could I make better ones from scratch? Absolutely.

But cooking and baking don't always have to be complicated.

I used to think that everything needed to be made from scratch. If it wasn’t worth making from scratch, it wasn’t worth making.

When one gets on that line of thinking, it can quickly spiral: “Does it really count as ‘scratch’ if I didn’t milk the cow? I could have grown a small plot of wheat to make the flour myself.”

It’s 100% OK to take shortcuts in the kitchen if it means everyone is fed a nutritious meal.

Sometimes that means focusing on doing a really good job on one part of the meal while using shortcuts for others. Sometimes it means everyone eats chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and frozen vegetables.

Frozen vegetables are the best kitchen shortcut. They are inexpensive, they’re usually picked at the peak of ripeness and frozen near the fields, and since those bags that were made to pop in the microwave came on scene, they’re the easiest to prepare.

I love to mix a bag of steamy broccoli in with mac and cheese or gnocchi alfredo.

That’s why I love this absolutely ingenious shortcut for brussels sprouts. This recipe will work with fresh brussels sprouts, but the time might need to be adjusted a bit.

Using frozen, the tiny cabbages are ready to go, there’s no washing or prep needed. They crisp up so nicely in the air fryer, but would come out just as delicious if oven-roasted.

Brussels sprouts, not unlike broccoli, got such a bad rap in childhood.

I honestly don’t ever remember eating brussels sprouts as a kid, but I remember knowing they were something gross. Part of the reason kids dislike veggies like brussels sprouts is undeveloped pallets, the other is the way they were usually cooked.

Boiling is a quick and efficient way to cook vegetables, but it’s also a quick and efficient way to make soggy mush.

Take the shortcut. Air-fry the Brussels sprouts, bake the brownies from a mix.

Tasty food doesn’t have to take hours to make.

Air fryer brussels sprouts

Ingredients

  • 1 12-ounce bag of frozen brussels sprouts.

  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

  • ½ teaspoon sea salt.

  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper.

  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder

  • 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar.

  • Parmesan cheese, for garnish.

Instructions

  • Pour the bag of frozen brussels sprouts into a medium bowl. Toss with the oil and seasonings.

  • Set the temperature to 390 for a cook time of 12 minutes, tossing roughly halfway through.

  • Be careful to not let them burn.

  • Transfer the cooked brussels sprouts to a serving bowl and toss gently with the balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Recipe adapted from Clean Eating Kitchen: https://www.cleaneatingkitchen.com/frozen-brussels-sprouts-in-air-fryer/.

This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: For a tasty shortcut, air-fry your brussels sprouts