We were invited to Aggie’s for a potluck dinner and I decided it would be nice to find something with a new spin on the traditional items that appear at the Easter table. So, I picked up the May edition of the Food Network Magazine and found exactly what I had in mind!

In the “On the Road” section, there is a nice little article on Giada De Laurentiis in which the author shares some advice from Giada on “where to eat, shop and relax like a local” in Los Angeles. Featured is her favourite salad from La Grande Orange in Santa Monica. As soon as I saw the colourful Brussels Sprouts Salad, I thought it would be a perfect spin on the usual Brussels sprouts and Hollandaise so routinely served at Easter.

With its brilliant spring green coupled with the dried blueberries and cranberries and smoked almonds, it almost looks like an Easter egg hunt! Add the lemony dressing, it almost mocks Hollandaise. I had to substitute a couple of ingredients and while I have copied the recipe as it appears in the beautiful magazine, I’ve also listed my changes.

Brussels Sprout Salad

For the Dressing:

¾ cup vegetable oil – canola for me

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil– Kirkland Signature Organic all natural cold pressed for me

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons champagne vinegar – Sudachi lime rice vinegar for me

1 ½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard—Maille Dijon mustard for me

½ small clove garlic, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 

For the Salad:

½ pound Brussels sprouts, leaves only (3 ½ cups leaves) – Queen Victoria Washed & Ready for me

1 tablespoon dried blueberries—Ocean Spray Craisins blueberry flavoured dried cranberries

2 tablespoons dried cranberries—Ocean Spray Craisins pomegranate flavoured dried cranberries

2 tablespoons smoked almonds

½ ounce manchego cheese, shaved

Bagel chips, for serving (optional) —New York Style Original Bagel Crisps Sesame for me

1. Make the dressing: Whisk the vegetable oil & olive oil in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, whisk the honey, vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, mustard, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper.
2. Slowly whisk the oil mixture into the vinegar mixture and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
3. Make the salad: Toss the Brussels sprout leaves, dried berries, almonds and ¼ cup dressing in a large bowl. Plate and top with the shaved manchego, season with pepper and serve with bagel chips, if desired.

 Note: The article stated it takes 15 minutes plus chilling and serves one. It took me 15 minutes just to disengage the leaves from the Brussels sprouts! (I guess if I was willing to sacrifice more of the end pieces it would’ve gone more quickly. I just so hate to waste good stuff!)

It seemed like a lot of salad for one serving, which I’m sure makes sense if it’s your main course. I doubled the recipe with the idea that once prepared if it looked too skimpy to take as a potluck contribution, I’d add a bit of baby spinach. In the end, there was plenty for a potluck contribution. And if I’d read the recipe all the way through, I wouldn’t have doubled the dressing. On the other hand, it isn’t a hard ship having some dressing left over because it’ll work well for all kinds of salads or vegetable dishes!

Despite the cleaned & ready version plenty of prep

Kirkland Signature EVO & Sudachi Lime Rice Vinegar

Ocean Spray Craisins add taste, texture & colour

Knowing that many of Aggie’s friends are vegetarians and there’d be lots of salads and bright vegetable dishes, I decided to forego the usual bottle of wine and picked up a big bottle of Okanagan Premium Cider Harvest Pear. It has a sparkling flavour that is not too sweet and full of the promise of the year’s harvest with its crisp pear profile.

Okanagan Premium Cider Harvest Pear

This Brussels Sprout Salad packs up quite nicely and looked great at its destination on the potluck table.

Brussels Sprout Salad to go

It was a wonderful Okanagan afternoon and over 30 people acted on Aggie’s invitation. The food selection was diverse and exceptional. My salad disappeared quickly and this recipe will definitely have a permanent place in my collection.

As if the day hadn’t been grand enough, in addition to my usual forest friends – the deer—there were elk along the way home.

Glimpse of elk on way home