TREATING SPROUTS WITH RESPECT

If you`re not a fan of Brussels sprouts -- and I`m guessing there are quite a few of you -- I`m about to change your minds. Brussels sprouts are sweet, delicate, buttery-tasting morsels -- but only if you treat them with respect.

Just as you wouldn`t buy an oversized head of lettuce with leathery leaves, you shouldn`t buy sprouts that are large and yellowed with age. Choose heads no bigger than the first notch on your thumb. The leaves should be a bright, grassy green color and the heads should be blemish-free.

Although you`ve probably learned to not overcook most vegetables, perhaps you still boil sprouts into submission. Don`t. They develop the odor and flavor of sulfur. As soon as you can easily stick a knife tip into the thickest part of the sprouts, stop cooking. You can speed up the cooking time if you make a small slash in the bottom of each sprout.

Plain sprouts taste better when you add some flavorings. Most foods do. The advantage of Brussels sprouts is that you don`t have to do too much. You`re not disguising the taste, you`re enhancing it. And what better enhancement than buttered walnuts. And serving Brussels sprouts with mustard and garlic-scented roast chicken doesn`t hurt either.

ROAST CHICKEN AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon crushed dried oregano

1 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt, freshly ground black pepper

2 chicken breast halves

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped walnuts

1/2 pound small Brussels sprouts

In cup, stir together garlic, parsley, oregano, mustard, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.

Place chicken in small noncorrosive, oven-proof pan. Spread oil mixture over chicken. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Baste chicken with marinade.

Melt butter. Add walnuts and saute just until butter browns and nuts smell slightly toasted, 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.

Trim off bottoms of sprouts. Make slash in bottom of each sprout. Add sprouts to chicken in pan. Loosely place sheet of foil over food. Don`t press foil down.

Bake at 350 degrees 15 minutes. Remove foil, baste chicken with juices and return to oven until golden brown and thoroughly cooked, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Remove from oven. Season chicken and sprouts with salt and pepper to taste.

Place chicken on 2 plates. Add sauteed walnuts to sprouts, toss and spoon onto plates. Makes 2 servings.

(Bev Bennett is the author of four cookbooks including the award-winning ``Dinner for Two,`` Barron`s.)

(c) 2000, Bev Bennett. Distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

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Author: Bev Bennett