winter chopped brussels sprouts salad

quadrupling my vegetable consumption in one foul swoop

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

SERVES: 4

chopped brussels sprouts salad with shallot balsamic dressing

1.13MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Chef’s knife
Cutting board (not my exact one but very similar)
Small sheet tray
Mini food processor/blender
Colander (similar but mine is from Ikea actually!)

For the salad:

• 1 lb brussels sprouts

• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

• 1 red apple

• 1/4 cup craisins

• 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbled

• 1 small can chickpeas

• 3 slices bacon

For the dressing:

• 1/4 cup white balsamic**

• 1/4 cup olive or avocado oil

• 1 tbsp maple syrup

• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

• 1 small shallot

• salt + pepper

For serving:

• 1 bag sweet potato or pita chips

1. Cook your bacon. Add your bacon to a small, parchment-lined sheet tray. Add to the cold oven and set to 400F. Flip the bacon once. Once your oven is heated, the bacon should be about done, hurray! (check it every few minutes throughout though just in case - everyone’s oven is different).

2. Cook your chickpeas. Remove bacon from the tray and place on a paper towel to drain. Leave the bacon fat in the tray, and add your drained, rinsed, dried chickpeas. Toss in the fat and add a pinch of salt and bake for about 20 minutes until crisp, tossing halfway. *You can skip this step if you want, and just add the chickpeas raw to the salad to save time. OR if you want to save time but still want to cook them, you can toss the chickpeas in 2 tbsp avocado oil and some salt, and bake/air fry without having to wait for the bacon to finish first.

3. While your bacon cooks, prep your salad. Finely chop sprouts (you can buy pre-chopped, use a mandolin, a knife, or a food processor - if using a food processor, just do a few at a time). Add to a colander with a pinch of salt and let sit for a few minutes. Chop your nuts, finely dice your apple, and crumble your cheese.

4. Make your dressing. To a food processor, add all your ingredients and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a food processor, no sweat - grate or finely dice your shallot, and mix all ingredients together, whisking in the oil at the end.

5. Assemble. To a large bowl, add everything but the bacon and nuts and mix in 3/4 of your dressing. Taste and add more to your liking. Top with crumbled bacon and nuts and enjoy immediately via chip scoops.

For the salad:

• Walnuts: any nuts will work great - hazelnuts or pecans would be my top choices.

• Craisins: something sweet is definitely needed - but dates or any dried fruit will work great

• Blue cheese: sub goat cheese, mozzarella, balls or pretty much any type of cheese

• Chickpeas: can skip or sub white beans - prep them the same way

• Bacon: can skip if you’re trying to lighten things up. Prep the chickpeas as noted in the recipe with regular oil vs bacon fat.

For the dressing:

• White balsamic: regular balsamic will work but it will make the salad darker in color. Tastes amazing, just not as pretty.

• Maple syrup: equal parts honey

• Dijon mustard: can skip if you’re in a real pinch. Or grainy mustard if you have it, don’t use yellow mustard.

• Shallot: 2 tbsp finely diced red onion will work, or 1 clove minced garlic.

For serving:

• Sweet potato or pita chips: optional but highly recommend

---

Questions? Drop a comment below if you have any questions, and don’t forget to let me know if you make it!