Side dishes to add flavour

I was putting together a roast chicken dinner and decided that roast potatoes, carrots and gravy seemed bland. Time to try some new side dishes. I cooked enough for 3 people.

I am not a lover of brussels sprouts so I thought I would toss them in a little avocado oil, add some freshly ground black pepper and throw in some finely chopped smoked bacon, The oven was pre-heated to 200 degrees C.
Every 10 minutes, I took the roasting tin out and shook the sprouts up. I cooked these on the middle shelf.

I had some organic white potatoes with unblemished skin which is rare for this time of the year. Baked potatoes are nice but I wanted something with a little more moisture as chicken can be dry. I scrubbed 5 medium potatoes and then cut into quarters and steamed them for 10 minutes. I chopped the potatoes into single bite pieces, drizzled a little avocado oil over them in the roasting tin; not too much. I seasoned with seasalt, ground black pepper and onion powder. They joined the sprouts in the oven on the top shelf. I tossed them regularly to ensure even browning.

Both side dishes took approx. 20-25 minutes. It’s important to check them.

I am converted to sprouts cooked this way as they had some caramelised areas and the contrast of the crisp bacon added flavour. The potatoes were reminiscent of the side dish you can get in American breakfast diners but with a more subtle flavour and healthy fat. I was hoping there would be some left over to have with scrambled eggs for breakfast but everything was eaten.

I would use larger sprouts next time as the ones I used were small; these could be halved so the cut edges would caramelise more.