Roasted Brussels Sprout Salad Recipe

One of the great culinary mysteries of the past few years is how Brussels sprouts went from being a vegetable that many people loathed to something so trendy you might even find them listed on certain hipster bistro menus not just as a side, but even as an appetizer or in a sandwich. Whether you're newly aboard the Brussels sprouts train or were a fan way back before this veggie went mainstream, you're sure to appreciate this salad that developer Christina Musgrave calls "a delicious and unique recipe that's a great side dish for entertaining."

Once you've prepped the vegetables (the salad involves a sweet potato as well as the eponymous Brussels sprouts), this recipe is pretty smooth sailing. All you need to do is season the ingredients, cook them in the oven, then toss them with a simple cider vinaigrette. The end result is a dish that Musgrave describes as "easy enough for a weeknight," yet festive and impressive enough to be a side dish for holiday entertaining.

The salad itself is made from cooked Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes, while the topping is made from feta cheese and almonds. The dressing consists of olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and cider vinegar, with salt and pepper added for seasoning and more olive oil for cooking. You could use extra-virgin olive oil for both the cooking and the dressing, but if you have 2 kinds, you can use the less expensive kind for the cooking and save the typically pricey olive oil for the dressing.

Prepping the vegetables will probably be the most time-consuming part of this recipe, since the actual oven cooking time is hands-off, but you need to get this out of the way before you begin. First, preheat the oven to 400 F, then cut each of the Brussels sprouts into quarters. 

Once you've gotten all of that slicing and dicing out of the way, don't put away the knife quite yet. Scrub up that sweet potato, then cut it into small cubes (good news: there's no need to peel it beforehand). After all of the vegetables are chopped, mix the sprouts and potato pieces with the salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Once the oven's hot enough, cook the vegetables for 25 minutes. Both types should look golden brown when done, but Musgrave does say to watch them so you can make sure they don't burn. As she points out, "Every oven is different." When the vegetables are done, let them cool down a bit before you make the salad.

When the vegetables have cooled a bit, put them on a plate or in a bowl and sprinkle the feta cheese and almonds over the top. Mix up all of the remaining ingredients (EVOO, lemon juice, mustard, and vinegar) and pour the dressing over the salad, then dig in — ideally with Musgrave's preferred mains of roast chicken, turkey, or steak.

If you don't want an entire pound of cooked Brussels sprouts for a single meal, it may be best to prepare a smaller amount since this dish is best the day of, before the dressing can "make the sprouts soggy," Musgrave says. If you're sure you'll have leftovers, only dress and add feta to the vegetables you're definitely going to eat; the next day, you can reheat the vegetables separately before adding the fixings.