Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

Ok friends. I swore to my kids I wouldn’t try to create a healthy Thanksgiving menu, but I do think it’s good to balance virtue and vice. When you have a table filled with probably twenty pounds of butter-and carb-filled side dishes, it’s important to have something green. Yesterday in the Houston Chronicle, I had a recipe for collard green and Brussels sprout salad. You can find it online — it’s a great side to pork chops or turkey.

This colorful slaw is a similar alternative that I threw together recently to serve with roast chicken. Just trim the ends off Brussels Sprouts and pulse them in a food processor to chop them up. (I would recommend you shave them on a mandolin, but I don’t want my sweet readers missing any fingertips!) You could also opt for this comforting pumpkin, apple and honey nut squash soup; make it early in the day and let it sit on the stove while the flavors meld together.

Toss the shaved Brussels with a super simple apple cider vinaigrette, and any leftovers will be good the next day (even after tossed with their dressing). Add a variety of fill-ins: candied pecans, crispy pancetta, croutons, feta or chopped apples. But even as a simple shredded Brussels sprout salad, it’s the foil for all that buttery carb goodness that you should certainly take down on Thanksgiving.

Print Recipe

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

This colorful salad is similar to a tangy slaw. Add chopped pecans or hazelnuts, chopped apples or pears and colorful pomegranate seeds.

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Author: Marcia W. Smart

Ingredients

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts trimmed and pulsed well in a food processor
• 4 ounces Pecorino cheese grated on a microplaner
• 1 large honey crisp or other tart-sweet apple chopped into ½-inch dice, about 1 ½ cups
• ½ cup pecan pieces toasted
• 1 cup pomegranate seeds

For the apple cider vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons minced shallot
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste (I use about
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Combine the chopped Brussels sprouts, pecorino, apple, pecans and pomegranates.

To make the dressing:

• In a glass jar with a tight fitting lid, combine all the ingredients. Seal tightly and shake to emulsify. Alternately, in a medium size bowl add the first four ingredients. Whisk in the olive oil to emulsify.
• Toss the salad with vinaigrette to taste, about 3/4 cup dressing. The remaining vinaigrette can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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