B is for Brussels Sprouts, Apple, and Pomegranate Salad

November 2, 2021 /

I came across this wonderful recipe vis Smitten Kitchen, whom I follow on Facebook. It’s a light, bright salad, and perfect for Autumn. Our neighbor’s sister has a pomegranate bush, and when she gives them some, he very kindly shares with us. So he stopped by with a couple of pomegranates the other day, and I decided to make this salad to go with our dinner. In her post, Deb (author of Smitten Kitchen) makes it as a salad for Thanksgiving dinner, and I often bring it to our family gatherings as well. Likely I will this year, too. Notes are hers, I just copied and pasted the recipe from her page. It’s a keeper.

Brussels Sprouts, Apple, and Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients

  • 1/2 large red onion, diced small
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons ground sumac
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to season salad
  • 2 cups shredded brussels sprouts
  • 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (from about 1/2 a large one) (J’s note – I use a whole pomegranate for this)
  • 1/2 a large unpeeled apple, cored and diced (I used Granny Smith)
  • Juice of half a lemon, plus more to taste
  • 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons honey, plus more to taste
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3/4 cup toasted, cooled walnuts, lightly crushed or coarsely chopped
  • Ground chipotle chile pepper, urfa biber peppers, hot smoked paprika or another chile flake, to taste (J’s note: I skip this generally)

    • Directions
    Make the sumac-pickled onions: Combine red onion, wine vinegar, sumac and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt in a small dish and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients, or ideally at least 15 minutes.

    Combine all salad ingredients, including red onions and their pickling liquid, in a medium bowl and season to taste with salt and red pepper. Taste and adjust ingredients as desired — I’ve seen versions of the recipe with more honey, olive oil and lemon; I didn’t need them but you might find you do.

    This salad can be prepped ahead, but I’d keep the dressing off of it until at most an hour before serving so it doesn’t discolor the sprouts.

    2 Comments

    • nance

      November 2, 2021 at 6:17 am

      It sounds very good, but for the price of Brussels sprouts, and since you’re not keeping them whole, I wonder if you couldn’t just go ahead and use cabbage (or even better, the ready-shredded bags of coleslaw or broccoli slaw). Do you think the flavour would be different overmuch?

      I’m a huge fan of Brussels sprouts. Our favourite restaurant makes a fried version with bits of bacon and chili flakes that is a killer appetizer. So good. I let Rick have all the bacon and he gives me an extra sprout or two.

      • J

        November 2, 2021 at 6:38 am

        Nance, I’m not sure that cabbage would work, though it might. I’d be more inclined to try broccoli slaw. Good idea!

        What makes the recipe, for me, is the pomegranate, and as I remember, you are not a fan. Maybe just the apples would be enough, with the walnuts….might still be pretty good. If you give a modified version a try, let me know!

        A adore fried Brussels sprouts. SO GOOD. Ted and I often get them as an appetizer when we see them on menus. Delicious.