Call it a hearty side dish or a vegetarian main dish, but call it delicious – this recipe features an all-in-one skillet technique that blends flavors while maintaining a pleasing texture. First you sauté diced potatoes, loosely covered (the steam they release helps them cook; no parboiling needed); then you add in thinly sliced Brussels sprouts and shallots and cook until everything is nicely browned and the potatoes are tender. A bit of garlic, thyme, lemon, and maple syrup bring it all together at the end. As a bonus, you can scootch the hash to the side of the pan and fry two eggs (dusted with Parmesan and thyme) if you like. Or not! For the most even cooking, slice the Brussels sprouts thinly lengthwise (no need to core). If you don’t have a lid for your twelve-inch skillet, use a sheet pan as an improvised lid. This recipe is a variation on one I developed for my cookbook Simple Green Suppers: A Fresh Strategy for One-Dish Vegetarian Meals (Roost Books, 2017). 

Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side 

  •  2 teaspoons maple syrup
  •  2 teaspoons lemon juice
  •  ½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
  •  3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  •  2 medium Yukon gold potatoes (about 12 to 13 ounces), small-diced (about 2½ cups)
  •  Kosher salt
  •  2 cups thinly sliced Brussels sprouts (about 6 to 7 ounces) (Cut in half first, then slice radially as if cutting an onion)
  •  ½ cup thinly sliced shallots
  •  1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
  •  2 teaspoons thyme leaves
  •  1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  •  2 large eggs
  •  Fresh black pepper
  •  3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

 
1. In a small bowl, stir together the maple syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Set aside.

2. In a twelve-inch nonstick skillet that has a lid, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the potatoes and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir and cover loosely. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes; the potatoes will have shrunken a bit, will have lost some of their opacity, and will be browning. (Listen for a gentle sizzle, and if there is a lot of loud popping, reduce the heat just a bit so that the potatoes are cooking and browning more slowly.)

3. Uncover, add the Brussels sprouts, shallots, and a scant ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring more frequently, until the potatoes are tender and everything is deeply browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. (Toward the end of cooking you will have to stir more frequently – or flip with a spatula – so that you get nice overall browning without burning.) Add the garlic and half of the thyme leaves. Cook and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. (If you are not planning to include fried eggs, you can skip to step 5.) 

4. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan. (It’s okay to bunch them up.) Add the butter to the empty side of the pan. When the butter has melted and is bubbly, crack two eggs into the pan (try to keep them a bit separate). Season with salt and pepper. When the whites are firm, sprinkle the tops of the eggs with some of the remaining thyme and half of the Parmesan cheese and flip over. Sprinkle the remaining thyme and Parmesan on the top side of the eggs. Cook until the Parmesan on the bottom has crusted a bit and the yolk is cooked to your liking (1 to 2 minutes). 

5. Remove the pan from the heat and spoon the lemon-maple mixture over the vegetables and gently stir to coat them. Portion the veggies onto two plates and top with the fried eggs (if using). Season with more black pepper if you like. 

Susie Middleton

*

 

A Sprout in Every Pan

However you slice them, whichever pan you prepare them in, Brussels sprouts can be delicious. Except when they’re boiled. Don’t ever do that.