St. Patty’s Sprout Salad – not your everyday salad

Brussels sprouts may not be native to Ireland but they are a popular veggie there and since it’s March, I’ve added the St. Patty’s name to this salad that is as green as the emerald country itself.

This is actually an adaptation of a recipe made by Giada on the Food Network channel.

Brussels Sprout-leaf Salad   4 servings
Dressing
Juice of 3 freshly squeezed lemons
2 to 3 tablespoon granulated sugar – to taste
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil -- from The Tasteful Olive
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste

Salad
About 1 ½ lbs. Brussels sprouts
About 3 cups other greens (such as mixed green lettuce blends)
⅓ cup sliced almonds – toasted
⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional

1.     Dressing:
a.  Add lemon juice and sugar to a small bowl; slowly drizzle in the olive oil as you whisk; continue to whisk until the mixture is combined.
b.  Season with salt and pepper.

2.     Salad:
a.  Using a small paring knife, remove the outer leaves from the Brussels sprouts. Reserve the cores for another use.
b.  Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat.
c.  Add the Brussels sprout leaves and cook for 1 minute.
d.  Drain and put in a bowl of iced water, then transfer to a colander to drain.
e.  Put the Brussels sprout leaves, other greens, and almonds into a large salad bowl.
f.   Add the dressing and toss together.
g.  Sprinkle with the cheese and serve.
We served out Sprout Salad with Lasagna Packages.
Recipe without photos . . .
Brussels Sprout-leaf Salad    4 servings
Dressing
Juice of 3 freshly squeezed lemons
2 to 3 tablespoon granulated sugar – to taste
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil -- from The Tasteful Olive
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste

Salad
About 1 ½ lbs. Brussels sprouts
About 3 cups other greens, such as mixed green lettuce blends (I sometimes cut this way back, relying mainly on the Brussels sprouts as the greens)
⅓ cup sliced almonds – toasted
⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese, optional

1.     Dressing:
a.  Add lemon juice and sugar to a small bowl; slowly drizzle in the olive oil as you whisk; continue to whisk until the mixture is combined.
b.  Season with salt and pepper.
2.     Salad:
a.  Using a small paring knife, remove the outer leaves from the Brussels sprouts. Reserve the cores for another use (I often shred them and blanch them along with the leaves.)
b.  Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over medium-high heat.
c.  Add the Brussels sprout leaves and cook for 1 minute.
d.  Drain and put in a bowl of iced water, then transfer to a colander to drain.
e.  Put the Brussels sprout leaves, other greens, and almonds into a large salad bowl.
f.  Add the dressing and toss together.

g.  If desired, sprinkle with the cheese and serve.

1 comment:

  1. FYI: Many people (such as myself) have HATED Brussels sprouts since that first childhood horror that anything could really taste that bad . . . (even after coming to love the entire rest of the brassica family and every other vegetable/weed eaten by anyone anywhere, leaving those awful balls from Brussels as a final lonely hold-out!)

    But one miraculous day, after half a century of hating, my mother, a very fine chef, tried to get me to eat them yet once again, and lo-and-behold it magically worked!

    For most of us veggie lovers who just can't swallow them, all that's needed is to CORE THE DAMN THINGS! I would ask: Do we eat a regular cabbage core? Of course not. So we don't recognize how intense the cabbage flavor is in the core. Brussels sprouts are really just tiny cabbagy sprouts and have that same super hard-core intensity in their cores, but, thanks to recipes like this, we really DON'T HAVE TO EAT THEM!

    What a miraculous epiphany!

    Thanks Barry and Meta for a new recipe for this EX-Brussels sprouts hater. I'll try it next time those lovely branches of sprouts are in season again.


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