Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad Recipe
I love making this 30-minute shaved Brussels sprout salad year-round with a pile of raw sprouts dressed in apple cider vinaigrette. I load it up with diced apples, fennel, pomegranate seeds, eggs, and pickled red onion.
Ingredients
For the Dressing:
- juice of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup grapeseed oil
- sea salt and pepper to taste
For the Salad:
- ½ pickled red onions recipe
- 2 pounds shaved Brussels sprouts
- ½ shaved fennel bulb
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 1 each medium diced granny smith and fuji apple
- ½ cup blue cheese
- 6 hard boiled eggs
- seeds from 1 pomegranate
- Optional Toppings: microgreens, pan-seared chicken breasts, pan-seared salmon
Instructions
- Dressing: Add the lemon juice, vinegar, mayonnaise, thyme, sugar and salt and pepper to a medium-size bowl.
- Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking until the dressing is emulsified.
- To Serve: Add the shaved Brussels sprouts to a very large serving bowl and sprinkle on the shaved fennel, dried cherries, almonds, apples, blue cheese, hard-boiled eggs, pomegranate seeds, and pickled onions,
- Serve with optional toppings and alongside the vinaigrette dressing.
Notes
I highly recommend shaving the sprouts as thin as the mandoline will let you go, because that single choice decides whether this salad eats like a chef's plate or a boring bowl. When I shave them paper-thin, the dressing catches the way it does on slaw and every other topping gets its own moment on the fork. I use the mandoline every time, and I treat it like the sharp instrument it is.
Hold the apples in pineapple juice: Water lets them go limp and brown, lemon juice slows it a little and then loses. Pineapple juice keeps the dice crisp, in color, and tasting like apple for up to 48 hours, which is how I prep them ahead for a Sunday salad.
Toast the almonds in a dry pan: I toss sliced almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan so nothing scorches, and pull them the second they smell nutty and pick up a touch of color. Untoasted almonds taste flat against the rest of the bowl.
Salt the vinaigrette, not the bowl: Salting an assembled salad pulls water out of the apples and the sprouts and pools at the bottom of the bowl. I season the dressing instead, taste it on a piece of sprout, and adjust before anything gets tossed.
Crumble the blue cheese by hand: Pre-crumbled tubs are coated in cellulose to keep the pieces loose, and that coating blunts the flavor. I buy a wedge, chill it for a few minutes in the freezer so it firms up, and break it with my fingers right before the bowl goes together.
Respect the mandoline: The second I start getting nervous while slicing, I stop and switch to a knife. Every line cook I trained learned that one the hard way. A guard or a cut-resistant glove pays for itself the first time it saves a knuckle.
Make-Ahead: You can absolutely make this up to 2 days ahead of time, and my recommendation is to keep the toppings separate before you are ready to serve it.
How to Store: this salad will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator. It is best to keep this dressing separate from the salad ingredients.
Nutrition
Calories: 298kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 10gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 528mgPotassium: 498mgFiber: 6gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 1150IUVitamin C: 67mgCalcium: 124mgIron: 2mg