I've been feeling the need to simplify my life lately. You know, the need to set some priorities and decide what stays and what goes. One of my top priorities at home is to make sure I feed my family healthy, good-tasting food. Last week, I realized that in order to do this I need to create a dinner menu to streamline evenings and help things run smoothly. Two kids under the age of three running around aren't exactly the ticket to smooth dinner times, if you know what I mean.
Once I sat down to plan meals, I remembered to include this delicious brussels sprouts salad recipe. It's very simple, quick and easy to prepare. The dressing is homemade, and also easy and healthy.
I like to use extra virgin olive oil or canola oil for salad dressings. Even though oils are fattening, they contain healthy fats that may actually improve health. I just make sure to dress salads with a small amount of dressing (about 1-2 teaspoons for a cup of salad). This recipe makes a lot of dressing, so you might have a bit leftover. I like making a large batch anyway to use for the next few days.
Assembling this salad is a breeze. And thankfully, Will gobbles this stuff up; I even witnessed him asking for a second serving, which rarely happens with vegetables and toddlers.
It starts with a few simple ingredients, but I'm warning you...it's highly addictive!
Addictive Brussels Sprouts Salad (adapted slightly from Shutterbean.com)
Ingredients:
- 24 Brussels sprouts,finely chopped
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
- 1 cup toasted nuts, chopped
- 9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons apple cinder vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- salt & pepper
Finely chop Brussels sprouts, set aside. Dice nuts and grate parmesan cheese. Place ingredients in a bowl. To prepare the dressing, simply mix oil, vinegar and mustard in a jar, shake it a few times and pour over salad mixture. It's good eaten right away, but also has some staying power for leftovers the next day.
