— Lynda Benham

Organic, fresh Brussels sprouts are really difficult to find. Uh, Brussels sprouts happen to be my favorite vegetable. And if you are doing the roasted vegetable assignment here in Rouxbe, um, you have a myriad of vegetables to choose from. I would suggest to go with the Brussels sprouts because that recipe is really good and delicious. However, I am a big fan of frozen vegetables. So let me say this, that places like sprouts, uh, places like Martin's or Giant, um, offer a frozen organic brussel sprout. It's not the same thing, but if it's the flavor that you like, I air fry them so that they don't get mushy, like if I would boil them or whatever. And I will also share with you that I do believe that food origins are also very important. So for example, if you buy a frozen bag of the Whole Foods market, 365 Brussels sprouts, they're actually from Brussels. So I kind of figure like, oh, the people in Brussels know what they're doing. Um, there's another brand called Woodstock that is particularly known for making or creating, um, organic vegetables. It comes in what looks like a brown paper bag. Uh, don't be fooled though. It's lined with plastic, so don't cook in it. Um, however, they do not have organic Brussels sprouts. They have ones that are GMO free back to the raw Brussels sprouts. What I do is after I cut the stem off, I will peel away the outer layers that are sometimes black or spotted, and then, um, I will, uh, prepare them as I do. The other thing that you can do is if you have any of those organic spray washers, um, you can, uh, clean them off, uh, after you take off the outside leaves, if that makes you feel better. This just reminds me, um, uh, I've been to Honduras many, many times for mission trips, uh, doing outreach. And, uh, the woman who is the chef at the house that I stay at knows that I don't eat food that has a mother or eyes very easy to say in Spanish. And, um, they clean their vegetables in bleach and they make up this big vat of water and they'll put about a tablespoon of, uh, AIA in the water and that's how they clean all of their vegetables. And I think I've been to Honduras maybe 30 times and I've never gotten sick. So I would go to the produce department though of your store and look for one of those, uh, spray things. And I would enjoy the Brussels sprouts and, uh, think of me when you eat them 'cause they are my favorite vegetable. Uh, good luck to you, Linda, and thanks so much for the question.