If there is a vegetable that has been left on the shelf for far too long, neglected and over-looked…it’s the Brussel Sprout.
This incredibly nutritious vegetable is related to broccoli, kale and cabbage and is in season now and during winter.
High in protein, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A, fibre, iron, potassium and many other vitamins and minerals, they are known for helping in the fight against different types of cancer, maintaining good bone and eye health, and help to fight auto-immune diseases with their anti-inflammatory properties. In summary, they are one of the most nutritious vegetables you could eat!
Brussel Sprouts have been given a bad rap mainly due to the fact that most people have only ever eaten them boiled to death, where they lose all colour, texture and flavour.
But instead of just giving up on this small, round nugget of goodness, why not try preparing it and serving it in a different way?
Remove all the leaves and keeping them raw, toss through a salad with a nice dressing. Chop into quarters and lightly fry in olive oil, add some cooked bacon, lightly steamed kale and roasted nuts for a yummy side dish.
Or try this salad.
This salad has ‘autumn’ written all over it.
Buerre Bosc pears, leeks, sage leaves and brussel sprouts, drizzled with red wine vinegar and roasted till golden. Add some goats cheese, feta, or in this instance, halloumi, and you have a pretty special salad. You need a salty style cheese to balance the sweetness that comes out of those roasted leeks and pears.
We enjoyed this salad on a weekend recently. It was a chilly autumn evening and we were having a fire pit outside with our boys.
On a side note, the $80 we spent on a fire pit from Bunnings a few years ago has well and truly paid off. There’s something about a fire that draws everyone together. We get some awesome conversation, often for hours, from our boys as soon as it’s lit.
Family time, a piece of steak, this salad and a glass of red = happiness for me.
The original idea for this recipe came from Donna Hay’s cookbook Fresh and Light.
Ingredients
500gm brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 Buerre Bosc (brown) pears, cut into wedges
1 leek, white part only, chopped into 2-3cm pieces
fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
200gm Halloumi cheese, pan fried till golden and chopped into small pieces (Feta or Goats cheese works well also. Just crumble over the vegetables before serving.)
Method
Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
Place cut brussel sprouts, pears, leeks and sage leaves on tray.
Drizzle with olive oil and 1/2 of the red wine vinegar.
Season with pepper and roast for 30 minutes.
Place on a platter and add the pan fried halloumi.
Pour over remaining red wine vinegar and serve.
