Common cabbage is one of the most traditional vegetables in Ukrainian kitchens with a wide variety of ways of cooking it known to each and every housewife. Yet, we often neglect other, sometimes much healthier, types of cabbage, like broccoli, cauliflower or Brussel sprouts, and our choice of recipes including these vegetables is quite limited. Today, I offer you an extremely healthy (really, it’s like a vitamin bomb), energizing, nutritious and truly delectable salad with raw uncooked Brussel sprouts (and yes, it’s perfectly OK to eat them fresh), completely devoid of any bitterness common to cooked Brussel sprouts. Combined with oranges and hazelnuts, these tiny greens will undoubtedly surprise you and will definitely win a place on your table as a side dish or even a main one if combined with some soft salty cheese or smoked meat. So, go on and experiment!
You’ll need:
400 g Brussel sprouts, top leaves removed, finely chopped
½ red onion, peeled, sliced into half-moons
1 orange zest
1 orange segments
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp oil (preferably olive oil)
40 g hazelnuts
Salt to taste
Preparation:
- Put the nuts in a pan and brown them slightly over small heat. Let them cool down, peel them, and divide them into halves.
- Put the chopped Brussel sprouts, onion, and orange zest in a deep bowl, salt them, and squash them a little bit. Let them rest for 5 min.
- Meanwhile, divide orange into segments and remove the skins.
- Add orange segments to the salad.
- Mix orange juice (what’s left in a bowl from the segments) with lemon juice and oil. Add it to the salad and mix thoroughly.
- Sprinkle the salad with hazelnuts and serve immediately.
Bon appetite!
P.S. Hazelnuts can be replaced with almonds, walnuts, or even poppy seeds.