Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Blue Cheese

As the temperatures drop, many people cover and close their grills for the fall and winter. Huge mistake! Not only does your grill work perfectly fine this time of year, I’d argue that it almost makes more sense to grill in the fall and even winter than it does during the summer. Think about it. When would you rather stand around a hot grill and reach over hot flames, when it’s 100 degrees outside, or when it’s in the 40s or 50s?

There are also a number of great fall and winter harvest vegetables that are perfect for grilling, and over the next few months, and I’ll post recipes for as many of them as I can. On tap today: Brussels sprouts. But not just any Brussels sprouts – these ones are grilled, then topped with crumbled blue cheese and fresh-cooked bacon bits.

Brussels sprouts have a bad rap, and I’m not sure why. I guess if you over-boil them, they smell (and taste) like bad eggs. That’s obviously gross. But when prepared right, they’re delicious. And they’re perfect for grilling – they get nice and crispy on the outside, soft on the outside, and have great flavor.

So keep your grill going this fall, and give this recipe for Brussels sprouts with bacon and blue cheese a shot – you won’t regret it.

Ingredients:

1 pound Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Approx. ½ teaspoon dry mustard
4 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled (the thicker the better)
About ¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled

Directions

1.    Wash Brussels, chop off the stems, remove outer layer of leaves, and cut in half.
2.    Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and dry mustard. The easiest way to do this is to put them in a large re-sealable bag and shake them up.
3.    Place Brussels on skewers.

4.    Place skewers over direct heat and cook for five minutes on each side. If they begin to get too charred, move them over and let them cook indirectly (will take a little longer than 10 minutes total cooking time if you need to do this).

5.    Remove from skewers, place in bowl and top with crumbled blue cheese and bacon. Enjoy!