A great side dish perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. This recipe combines winter produce with dry-cured ham and Feta cheese for a flavorful, winter side dish.
It’s the perfect recipe for those who like to try new, unique flavor combinations. Serve it alongside your favorite Holiday sides whether it be stuffing, sweet potato casserole or red cabbage coleslaw!
Special diet information: This recipe is naturally gluten-free and nut-free. However, always check the labels of products you buy to make sure there are no traces.
Can you eat raw Brussels sprouts in a salad?
Yes, you can. It is best when you finely shred them though. Now, this salad uses roasted and that is what I recommend doing for this recipe.
Should you boil Brussels sprouts before roasting?
You can do so, but it is not necessary. It reduces the roasting time but to save time you would have to cook them a day in advance. Otherwise, you will only add an extra step to your prep on the day of making the recipe.
Do I need to wash them?
Yes! Always wash your produce unless it states it has been washed. You want to remove any dust or dirt and for this reason, it is also good to remove a few of the outer leaves.
How to make roasted Brussels sprouts salad
Tools:
- Chopping board & knife
- Skillet/frying pan
Ingredients:
- Vegetables: Brussels sprouts, onion
- Fruit: Pomegranate
- Deli meats: Italian prosciutto or Spanish serrano ham
- Dairy produce: Feta cheese, butter (either salted or unsalted. Use real butter. For best flavor avoid butter substitutes)
- Seasoning: Salt, black pepper
Preparation
Onion and Brussels sprouts are sauteed in butter. To this, you add dry-cured ham and once it crisps up slightly, you are done.
Transfer the mix onto a serving plate and add crumbled Feta and pomegranate seeds. Taste and add seasoning if needed. Serve warm or cold!
Serving suggestions
This salad goes well with turkey, pork or chicken.
Expert tips
- To make a large batch, roast them in the oven!
- Remove the outer leaves before cooking.
- Seasoning: Prosciutto and feta cheese are both quite salty. For that reason, add only a little salt. Taste and add more only if you feel like it is needed. Add as much or as little black pepper as you like.
- Pomegranate goes so well with the rest of the ingredients. It balances the strong flavors and adds a bit of sweetness to the salad. You can add more if you like. It’s such a tasty ingredient and elevates any meal – I like to add it to homemade stuffing or butternut squash salad.
- It takes about 10-15 minutes to pan roast the sprouts. Use this time to prep the rest of the ingredients for the salad to save time!
Substitution suggestions
I highly recommend using all the ingredients originally stated in this recipe. There are not many of them and the main ones complement each other well. Now that being said, here are a few ideas:
Onion – Use either red, yellow or white.
Butter – I recommend using unsalted butter here, so it is not too salty. Or, if you use salted, you might not need to use salt at all. Don’t use margarine or other butter substitutes! Extra virgin olive oil is the best substitute.
Cheese – Mexican Cotija is very similar to Feta. To try something different, you could use goat cheese. I would suggest adding only a little as it has a strong flavor and might overpower the rest of the ingredients.
Prosciutto – Use Spanish serrano ham (jamon). I have not tried but I imagine it would also work well with Spanish chorizo.
More Thanksgiving meal recipe ideas
Appetizer: Cranberry Brie Bites
Main: Thanksgiving Turkey
Sides: Stove Top Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, Braised Red Cabbage
Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (45 grams), see note 1
- 1 onion (medium), thinly sliced
- 1 pound Brussels sprouts (450 grams), halved, see note 2
- salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper to taste
- 2 ounces prosciutto or serrano ham (60 grams)
- 1 pomegranate , deseeded
- 2 ounces feta cheese , crumbled (60 grams)
Instructions
- In a skillet/frying pan, melt the butter. Add thinly sliced onion and Brussels sprouts, cut in halves. Season with s pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes. Tear each prosciutto slice into several pieces and throw them into the skillet.
- Once the sprouts are cooked and have a nice brown color, turn off the heat. Transfer into a serving bowl.
- Add pomegranate seeds and crumbled Feta. Give it a stir.
- Serve warm!
Notes
- The best is to use unsalted butter to avoid over seasoning the salad. If you use salted butter, I recommend adding salt only at the very end – after you have tasted the salad.
- Make sure to wash them and remove a few of the outer leaves first.
- You could use more jamon as well as more Feta cheese. However, the more you add, the saltier the salad will turn as these two ingredients are pretty salty on their own.
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