Braised Baby Brussels Sprouts and Baby Onions with Cumin

These bright little orbs of contrasting texture, color, and flavor are not merely cute. They taste just right—and wouldn’t if they were larger. The onions must be the same size as the sprouts (or slightly smaller) to cook properly. Serve with buckwheat or barley and mushrooms for a vegetarian meal. Add pork or lamb for a meaty one.

Note that the time spent peeling mini-onions is balanced by the time not spent trimming mini-sprouts, which need mini-attention.