Winterly brussels sprouts – salad: fresh and crisp!

Hot soup or a winterly brussels sprouts-salad?

Usually my mind is set on stews or hot soups during these temperatures. There is nothing that heats you from the inside than a bowl of steaming hot fresh made broth.

Nevertheless I will confront you with a winterly, fresh and crunchy, full of vitamines and healthy nutrients brussels sprout-salad. A real energy supplyer.

Brussels sprouts seem to have quite a bad reputation, which I disagree with. The good thing about this recipe is that you just blanch the brussels sprouts for one minute only, hence avoid the invasive scent of cooked cabbage. Also the little leaves remain nice and tenderand keep their shiny fresh spring-green colour. Brussels sprouts is full of minerals, fibre and vitamins A, B₂ and C.

 

Add carrots, red cabbage, joung mangold leaves and lentil sprouts. Sprinkled with pomegranate and some blood orange-dressing – that’s all you need. Another nice addition, however, is some broccolo-pesto. YES, broccoli :-)

broccoli-pesto

• 1 small / medium sized broccoli
• 1/2 clove of garlic
• 30 g walnuts
• 50 ml oliveoil
• 1 EL water
• salt
• fresh ground pepper
• to your liking some pecorino or parmesan

Wash the broccoli and break into small florets. Blend in a food processor or magic wand with the rest of the ingredients for approximately one minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. In case the pesto is a little dry just add some more olive oil or water.

Broccoli-pesto is a refreshingly winterly alternative to regular (basil-) pesto. You can also use it as a bread-spread or with pasta – I decided to twist my salad a little bit with it.

 

winterly brussels sprouts-salad (4-6 servings)

• 750 g brussels sprouts
• 3 carrots
• 1/4 red cabbage (small)
• 100 g young mangold leaves (can be replaced by and green salad)
• 50 g lentil sprouts
• 1 pomegranate

Wash the brussels sprouts and remove the small stems. Peel off the leaves. This will take a moment, however, the tender leaves will reward you with their beauty. If you don’t want to go through this process you can also grate or cut the brussels sprouts into fine stripes. Blanch the brussels sprouts leaves for one minute in the boiling water, drain and chill immediately in ice water. Once they are cooled down let them drain in a strainer.

Peel the carrots and grate them, plane the red cabbage in fine stripes. Wash the lentil-sprouts and the mangold-leaves and let them strain.

Remove the seeds from the pomegranate (I usually cut it in half and give it some strikes with a wooden muddler from the outsinde – careful sometimes this method of getting the seeds out can splash around a little…).

 

blood orange-dressing

• 1-2 blood oranges
• 2 tsp almond purée
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey
• 5-6 tbs olive oil
• salt and fresh ground pepper

Squeeze the blood oranges and mix with the rest of the ingredients to a nive and creamy dressing. I like using my blender to get a really creamy texture. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

The joy of winter

I am really relishing the moment. Munich is covered in snow and icicles are hanging from the rooftops. It is freezing cold ouside, therefore the snow doesn’t turn into brownish slush and is still nice and bright white! I love to take the kids sledding for an hour after school before having to get them started with their homework…

… and if you have the energy of a freshly prepared brussles sprouts-salad in your system, running up that sledding hill is also doable! :-)