Salad ingredients:
12 oz shaved brussels sprouts, stems removed
1 ½ cups pomegranate arils
1 ½ cups Honeycrisp apple, diced
1 cup pecans, candied or just toasted
¾ cup dried cranberries
Vinaigrette:
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ T apple cider vinegar
2 T dijon mustard
1 T maple syrup or honey
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
Candied pecans:
2 cups pecan pieces
⅓ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ to ½ tsp cayenne
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp salt
1 ½ T water
Make candied pecans first. Add all candied pecan ingredients except pecan pieces to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring well for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add pecans and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes. Make sure to stir often until the glaze thickens and cooks down - it should be shiny and should be thick.
Transfer to parchment paper to cool down completely before breaking up. If they are not crispy after cooling, you can put the parchment paper on a cookie sheet in a 250 degree oven for approx. 10 minutes to further dry them out. Then cool again. You will only need ½ of what you make for salad. The other ½ of the recipe can be used for snacking.
Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients.
Use a shredder attachment on a food processor, a mandoline or a knife to shred brussels sprouts into 1/16 inch shreds. Most grocery stores also carry pre-shredded brussels sprouts.
Chop a Honeycrisp apple into small cubes. No need to peel the apple. Plunge cubed apple pieces into ice water and let sit for 5 minutes. This will keep the apple from browning, especially if you are prepping in advance and not mixing salad with dressing immediately. After 5 minutes, strain out ice and water.
Combine brussels sprouts, pomegranate arils, chopped apple pieces, and cranberries in a bowl. Pour vinaigrette over salad. Let salad sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. Add pecans right before serving. Salad tossed in the dressing is best made the day before. If making early, leave pecans out until last minute to preserve the crunch of the candied pecans.
