roasted brussels sprouts salad

I forgot to mention that growing up in Hawaii, we had to work in the cafeteria once in a while, I enjoyed these times, because our lunch was free for that day.

Also, as far as cleaning went, we used to have to "clap" the chalkboard erasers to clean them once in a while, but never had to do the whole class room.

Thanks for all the great comments on yesterday's post.

Now onto today's post...after French class on Tuesday, I went to Daimaru to pick up a couple items for dinner.

Upon looking at the veggie section, I found a little pack of brussels sprouts (10 orbs for 298 yen). In Japanese, brussels sprouts are called Me-kyabetsu (literally sprout cabbage).

It was my first time cooking with it and I winged it.

After cutting off the stems and washing them, I cut them in half then drizzled some olive oil and roasted them at 420F (220C) with a half of an onion for about 15 minutes.

While I was waiting for the sprouts and onion to be done, I sauteed some pancetta (3 thin slices) that I had cut into bite sized pieces, and drained it onto a paper towel.

Then, I put a handful of dried fruit and the drained pancetta into a container and drizzled one mini container of olive oil basil-balsamic dressing (20 ml, about a tablespoon).

After the sprouts and onion were done, I added them to the fruit and pancetta then drizzled one more mini container of the olive oil basil-balsamic dressing (20 ml) because the dried fruit and pancetta soaked up the first "drizzle".

And since I had some marcona almonds in my freezer, I toasted them in the a 300F (150C) oven for 10 minutes and added them to the mix.

NOTES: a little tangy from the dressing, crunch from the nuts though I think I overcooked the brussels sprouts because they were a bit bitter (which I read about online). Still, I really enjoyed this. It was good warm and even better the next day cold. I hope to see more reasonably priced brussels sprouts in the future so I can make this again.