Sprouts with mushrooms and almonds

Everyone loves sprouts. Don't they? LOL. The vegetable everyone loves to hate, but I suspect part of that is rooted in being served sprouts badly cooked. Soggy? Ugh!

This simple twist won't guarantee perfectly cooked veg - the timing is still in your hands - but it's a great enhancement on the plain old boiled variety to accompany chicken or turkey.

Peel and prepare sprouts as normal. It's important to cut a cross fairly deep into the base to allow them to cook in the middle without the outside going mushy. Boil in salted water for about 5 minutes. A bit of crunch is fine, but overcooking is not good.

Meanwhile cut some button mushrooms into halves or quarters depending on size. You want pieces similar size to the sprouts and about the same quantity overall. Fry them in butter until starting to brown. Throw in a handful of flaked almonds. Drain and add the sprouts to the pan. Toss everything in the butter for a few more minutes, then serve.

Update January 2019: 

We've been doing a few variations on this theme in recent months. Firstly, I've found that it helps to halve the sprouts rather than simply cross the stems. Then, instead of mushrooms you can saute things like finely-sliced red onion or red cabbage instead. I'm sure there are loads of other things you can try to ring the changes.