Lemon Cheesy Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

While Bassam was away for the weekend, I had my favorite kind of dinner every night: salad, salad, and more salad! While I know salad is not normally seen as a crave worthy food, I just love salads. I always experiment with lots of different flavors and my salads end up including almost everything I have in my fridge or pantry. For this salad creation, I exercised a bit more restraint. I limited myself to just a few ingredients and it came out so delicious. I’ve really been craving cheese and lemon flavors lately, so this dish includes lots of lemony and cheesy goodness. I think it could even convince a non salad {or non Brussels sprout} lover to change their stance! The salty, sweet, lemony combo is just magic for my taste buds. I’ve now made this salad 4 nights in a row and I’m still craving it. I might just make it again tonight… sorry Bassam!

Lemony Cheesy Shaved Brussels Spout Salad

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

Warning: I’m never very good at measuring, so please take the quanitites listed below as suggestions and feel free to customize to meet your tastes.

3 cups of shaved Brussels sprouts {we get them already shaved at Trader Joe’s. If your local market doesn’t offer shaved Brussels sprouts, you can try using a slicing attachment on a food processor or try to do it yourself with a knife, just get it very thin}

3 lemons, juiced

2/3 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese {or parmesan}

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup dried cranberries {if you don’t have dried cranberries, you could also try fresh apples}

1/3 cup of your favorite olive oil {we love using garlic infused olive oil}

Salt and pepper to taste {we prefer using s/p in a grinder, tastes so much better!}

DIRECTIONS:

Place the Brussels sprouts in a large bowl with the lemon juice, cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix very very well. I like to use my hands to really get it all mixed. If you prefer a crispier salad, proceed with the rest of the recipe immediately. If you prefer a slightly softer Brussels sprout with a more marinated taste, let it sit for a few minutes.

Next add the cranberries and walnuts. Toss lightly. You can also top with a bit more cheese if you prefer.

If I’m eating with Bassam, I typically add a protein, like grilled chicken. Make sure the protein doesn’t have too much flavor or it will overpower the lemon cheesiness of the dish.

Bon appetit! 🙂