Easy warm Brussels Sprouts salad with blue cheese
This easy Brussels sprouts salad is made in no time at all and is the perfect fall or winter salad. The dressing is a combination of blue cheese and chestnut puree.
Warm Brussels sprouts salad with blue cheese
Give the fact that I grew up hating Brussels Sprouts it is kind of a miracle that I love these little green cabbages now so much. But that said; I had yet to create a recipe for a Brussel Sprouts salad that I liked. I had attempted to make it before but I do not like them raw. Not entirely raw anyway. So in this case I quickly sautéed them so they were no longer raw but still had a good crunch to them.
What can you find in this post?
For making this Brussel Sprouts salad I used a food processor as you can definitely cut all the Brussels Sprouts by hand, but that is a hell of a job. So enter the machine. I have a magimix which has all these handy attachments you can use to make the job at hand so much easier.
Chestnut dressing
For this salad I decided to make a dressing using a canned chestnut puree that I had still leftover from Christmas. It was the unsweetened variety as a sweetened one would not be very good here. Chestnuts and Brussels sprouts are a classic combination, so the decision to make a dressing out of the puree came quickly.
Now if you’ve ever used chestnut puree, you’ll know that it is stiff and needs some help breaking down. I mixed it with double cream and you can use a stick blender to create a smooth dressing if you want or a fork will eventually do the trick as well, but it it will take a bit longer. For the rest the dressing needs a bit of chili, pepper and salt and I added some thyme.
Quickly bake the Brussels sprouts
Normally I roast my Brussels sprouts but since it was sliced thinly it worked really well to simply bake them in a skillet and a lot of butter for a couple of minutes. I started with onions, garlic and then added the fennel seeds and the Brussels sprouts.
Warm Brussels sprouts salad
The salad is not a salad in that you eat it cold. I like this to be semi warm. There is something odd about cold Brussels sprouts that just doesn’t sit all too well with me. So I go for the luke warm version.
Serve with
You can serve the Brussels sprouts salad with spelt, as I did here, but rice would work very well too. Or potatoes or whatever else you like to eat with Brussels Sprouts.
On top of the salad I crumbled a generous amount of blue cheese and roasted hazelnuts and I finish by sprinkling over the chestnut dressing.
Can I keep the salad?
If you can keep the salad after making it, is probably a personal preference. I happen to dislike this dish when I need to reheat it. So I eat it straight away, but if you do want to keep it and use it at a later date I would keep the dressing, the hazelnuts and the blue cheese separate until needed. The spelt and the vegetables can be mixed in advance. The rest can then be added later.
Can I replace the chestnut dressing?
If you do not have chestnut puree or simply want another dressing you can definitely make another dressing for this salad. A simple vinaigrette of olive oil and a bit of lemon would work or use a mayonnaise based dressing for the Brussels sprouts salad.
Warm Brussels Sprouts salad with blue cheese and chestnut dressing
Ingredients
- 250 gr Brussels Sprouts shaved in the foodprocessor or thinly sliced
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 clove of garlic finely diced
- 1 tbsp of fennel seeds
- butter for baking
- pepper/salt
- 50 gr hazelnuts roasted and chopped
- 100 gram spelt
- 50 gram blue cheese I used Dana Blue
For the chestnut dressing
- 150 gr chestnut puree the unsweetened one, mine contains only water and chestnut
- 200 ml double cream
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 sprig of thyme leaves only
- pepper
- salt
- Cook the spelt according to instructions on the package. Drain and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan and sauté the onion, garlic, the fennel seeds and the shaved sprouts slowly until cooked to your liking. Season with salt and pepper.
- Make the chestnut dressing by mixing the puree with the double cream and heat slowly. The chestnut needs some help breaking down, so I used a spoon to press it a bit into the cream and finish with mixing it with a stickblender to get rid of any lumps. You want a smooth cream.
- Season to taste with pepper, salt, chili and thyme and serve separately with the salad.
- For serving put the spelt into two plates, put the sprouts on top and sprinkle with the hazelnuts and blue cheese.
Nutrition Information per portion
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
A tasty combination! Brussel sprout salads are delicious. I love that dressing.
Cheers,
Rosa
I love creating salads that contain blue cheese. My favourite is baked figs with honey and blue cheese… and there is an abundance of figs right now in southern Spain.Â
Saludos!
Greetings Simone,
I will have to try this recipe. I have been very recently converted to a Brussels sprouts enjoyer. I have only found one way I can eat a whole bowl so far. I am always looking for more ways to enjoy them.
My way:
Brussel sprouts with candied walnuts, bacon, and grapes
http://bit.ly/1PpRzZh
He Leslie! Ah another Brussels sprouts convert… 🙂 I will be posting more soon!