Chopped Brussels Sprouts Salad

One of the cool things about picking up and moving across the country is the adventure of meeting new people.  We live in a neighborhood now, totally unlike our home in Texas, which was “out” in the country.  We made a conscious decision to live in a neighborhood where we would be forced to meet people. The thing is we don’t get to choose our neighbors like we  do our friends, but sometimes we get lucky enough to have neighbors that we are happy to call “friends”.

Such is the case of our next door neighbors in Greensboro.  A likable young couple with a precious 23 month old little girl.  Funny they just moved to the neighborhood about a month before us and are in the same boat.  New to the “hood” and new to the Tarheel state.  Mr. W, as we shall call him popped over the first afternoon that my hubby moved in and brought two beers.  Now that’s hospitality!  Mr. W also does the cooking in their household and from what I hear he’s pretty good at it.  Mrs. W prefers veggie dishes but will eat seafood and other meats occasionally.  A couple of weeks ago we invited them over to watch the Super (not really so super) Bowl.  I made a big pot of shrimp gumbo and asked them to bring a salad.  When she texted me to ask if Shaved Brussel SproutSalad would be well received, I laughed because my hubby will not touch a sprout and I wasn’t sure if our other guests would be on board either.  I apologetically declined.  She understood.  Nice neighbor!

Last week she texted the above picture and told me she had made the Brussel Sprout salad.  When she  offered to bring me over a taste I quickly responded “Yes please!”.  It looked delicious, as I happen to be a fan of Brussel Sprouts.  She found the recipe here Pinch Of Yum. I ate the entire bowl in one sitting.  I found it addicting; with the crunch and juiciness of the pomegranate arils, more crunch from the almonds and savory, flavorful BACON!  Yes, bacon goes perfectly with those little cabbages. The shaved sprouts lend a whole new and appealing texture to the often dreaded vegetable.  Tender, mild and healthy!  She’s the best because she used my honey in the dressing.  The dressing is flavored with tangy citrus, sweet honey and bound with Greek yogurt.  Yummy!  I warned her it would end up on the blog since she’d used my honey.  If you are a fan of the little sprout do make this salad and share some with a neighbor!

Enjoy!

Chopped Brussels Sprouts Salad

Ingredients

• 30-40 Brussel Sprouts

• 6 slices of all natural bacon

• 1 cup pomegranate arils

• 1/3 cup almonds

• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecornio Romano cheese

• Dressing:

• 1 shallot, chopped

• juice of one orange

• juice of one lemon

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

• 1/3 cup oil

• up to 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

1. Fry the bacon until crispy.

2. Drain on paper towels, crumble and set aside

3. Shred or slice the Brussel sprouts.

4. Prep the pomegranate seeds.

5. Place the almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

6. Toss the brussels sprouts, bacon, pomegranate arils, almonds and cheese together.

7. Place all of the dressing ingredients in a food processor and pulse until creamy.

8. Add the water as needed for consistency.

9. Toss the salad with the dressing and serve immediately.

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