Brussels Sprouts, Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad

If you indulged in last weeks chocolate trifle and feel a little guilty, this salad is the perfect way to ease your mind! It is seasonal, fresh, light but also very tasty! I was thinking of making a version of Deb Perelman’s broccoli slaw from Smitten Kitchen but using sprouts in place of broccoli. That’s a great recipe by the way, have a look, I usually reduce the sugar in the dressing. Then I looked in the fridge and saw that there was beetroot there that needed to be cooked so I went down a different road altogether and this was the result.

I’ve made this with raw sprouts and made a version with roasted sprouts. I personally preferred the freshness of the raw sprouts but both were good. You could also make this from leftovers from Christmas day dinner. If you have a mandoline use that to slice the sprouts but I am not allowed to use one since the Great A&E Visit of 2010, so I just sliced thinly with a sharp knife instead.

Use ready cooked vacuum packed beetroot if you like to make things easier. I had raw beetroots and basically to cook them I just scrubbed them, wrapped in foil and stuck them into the oven while I was making a lasagne one day. They are done when they can be easily pierced with a knife.

If you want to make this vegetarian, substitute the parmesan with a suitable alternative or just leave it out altogether. I went a little overboard with the pomegranate seeds, it really did not need as many as you see in the pics. You could use walnuts or pistachios but I like almonds in this dish. It’s really one of those whatever you like yourself dishes!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 small red onion, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp. pomegranate molasses
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp of red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• 200g of Brussels sprouts (approx. 24)
• Rocket leaves
• 2 cooked beetroots, thinly sliced
• Pomegranate seeds
• 15g flaked almonds
• Fresh parmesan

Method:

• Start by preparing the red onions: when you have them thinly sliced set to one side and make the dressing. Mix together the molasses, vinegar and olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Put the onions into the dressing and give it a good mix to coat the onions. Leave for about 15 minutes and in this time the onions will ‘cook’ slightly and lose their rawness. This is one of my favourite salad dressings!
• Trim the end of the sprouts and remove any outer leaves that don’t look too healthy. Finely slice the sprouts into rounds. Mix the sprouts with a few rocket leaves or other leaves of your choice and divide between 2 plates.
• Peel and thinly slice the beetroots and arrange on top of the greens.
• Add the onions and drizzle some of the dressing over it.
• Heat a dry non stick pan over medium heat and lightly toast the almonds until they are a nice golden brown colour.
• Sprinkle the nuts over the salad, add some pomegranate seeds – about a tablespoon each should be enough – and shave over some parmesan. Pour over the rest of the dressing.
• Serve immediately.