Brussels Sprout Salad
There’s a bit of busy work in this salad but I promise you, it’s WORTH IT! Fresh, vibrant and SO delicious! Enjoy!
Serves 4 (main entrée) or 8 (side dish)
Ingredients:
Salad:
2 lbs brussels sprouts
2 cups kale & spinach blend
1 cup dried cranberries, cherries & blueberries
1 cup marconi almonds
4 slices bacon
Manchego cheese, shaved
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp stone ground dijon mustard
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Directions:
Fill a large stockpot roughly 3/4 full with water. Heat over high heat until boiling. Steam brussel sprouts in steaming tray with lid on. If you don’t have a steaming tray, place a strainer in your pot, resting handles on the pot. Ensure that water doesn’t seep into bottom of steaming tray or strainer and cover the pot or strainer. Steam for 5 minutes. Do not over cook!
While steaming, fill a large mixing bowl with water and ice, roughly 2/3 full. Once sprouts are done steaming, drain and place in mixing bowl filled with ice water. The ice bath will stop the cooking and keep the tenderness and bright green color. Leave in ice bath for 2-3 minutes. Drain again and spread out on kitchen towel. Pat dry.
Trim bottoms off sprouts. Do not cut too much off the bottom. Gently peel off the leaves. This will act as your salad base. Continue to do this until you’ve peeled roughly 5-7 leaves off each sprout or until you get to the white center.
Once you’ve peeled all the leaves, pat dry with towels and set aside.
Heat a small skillet over medium high heat and brown the bacon. Once browned, drain grease.
Prepare salad dressing by combining all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Mix until well blended.
In a large bowl, toss brussels sprouts, kale and/or spinach mixture, dried berries, marconi almonds and bacon. Drizzle half of dressing over top and toss. Plate salads and top with shaved manchego cheese. If desired, use balance of dressing on salad once you’ve plated.
If serving as an entrée, top with favorite protein.