Asparagus and Brussel Sprout Bake

I grew up hating vegetables. As I got older and my tastes changed, I still enjoyed very few veggies. After I was married for awhile, Rachel found a recipe for asparagus that won me over. This is not that recipe. I'll share that one later. But, bear with me.

Occasionally we shop at Sam's Club...ok, who am I kidding? We shop at Sam's Club all the time.
The best part of Sam's Club is, you guessed it, the food samples.

A few weeks ago, while wandering around Sam's in a wash of disappointment, thinking that I missed the samples, an aroma smacks me in the back of the head. I missed one...and it smelled wonderful!

Not that I usually get my recipes from a grocery store, this was an exception.

Asparagus and Brussel Sprout Bake

The Finished Product :)

This is so easy, it's crazy!

The kick to this dish is the ....BACON...BAcon...Bacon...bacon.

Let's start with that.

1) In a heavy pan, render a goodly amount of roughly chopped bacon and drain well. Definition of goodly amount: Whatever trips your switch. I used 1/2 lb of maple smoked, thick cut bacon. You can use your favorite. Take the bacon out and drain on a paper towel. Keep the bacon fat in the bottom of the pan! By the way, my favorite pan in the whole world is my dutch oven. If you possibly can, get one and use it often. It makes you cook in a totally different way and makes EVERYTHING better.

Rendered Bacon Draining In  Paper Towel

2) Cut up a large onion. Add a little olive oil to the hot pan and sweat the onion. Sweat it like a fat man in a sauna.

3) While the onion is softening, cut up a bundle of asparagus (a good double handful?) and a mess of brussel sprouts. Please refer to the following picture for a better idea. I cut up the asparagus into 1 inch pieces after snapping off the growing end. The tough end snaps off naturally toward the bottom of the stock.

Cut the brussel sprouts in half.

4) Toss it all in the hot pan and saute the whole crazy thing for 15 or 20 minutes with the lid on. Stir every 5 minutes or so.

5) When the veggies are softened and slightly browned, add the bacon back in. Stir it up and enjoy!

Wanna see it again?!

It looks awesome! It tastes better!

There you go! Other than a bit of chopping, it's super easy! So, whether you are a vegetable hater or not, try this recipe! It might just change your opinion. It DOES have bacon in it after all.