This Saturday, a few of our friends got together and had a potluck-style day of feasting at one of our friend’s apartment in Brooklyn.
We had planned this for over a month and Bobby, the guy who lives in said apartment, and me were planning the menu for weeks. Clearly, we’re both food nerds.
We wanted to keep it fall-themed, sort of like a “welcome to fall, that’s a great excuse to get together.” Funny how you need “reasons” to rally the troops, right?
It’s true though – as often as I see my friends, it’s so tough to get large groups together. Specifically, with this group, there are babies – Bobby has 18 month year old twin girls (so precious I can’t even) and Lu’s best friend Scott has a son who’s a little over two years old.
Hence, get togethers need to be scheduled in advance and this time, we went with a fall theme! My responsibilities were to bring a crostini, a salad, an appetizer and make a dessert.
For those of you who haven’t heard me say it before – I’m a terrible baker. I’m always measuring improperly or haphazardly and I can’t stand the way flour gets everywhere when you’re sifting and mixing and pouring. I always forget an essential ingredient or mess up the baking soda/baking powder.
Anyway, I made a really good banana walnut chocolate chip bread with a homemade cream cheese frosting (none of which were remotely healthy, but hey – a fall get together calls for a little celebratory indulgence.) I was pretty proud of myself.
Then, of course, I had to make something spiralized. Since I was traveling from Jersey City to Brooklyn for this, I figured I’d keep it easy and simple and spiralize apples. Brussels sprouts scream fall and winter to me, so after spending way too much time trying to write my own recipe, I decided to google “brussels sprouts” and “apples” and make the first easy recipe that popped up.
Thanks to the wonderful Williams Sonoma, I found this recipe, adapted it to be healthier, cooked it and loved it so much that I had to recreate it again, photograph it and post it up on the blog! Basically, I took out the brown sugar, replaced it with honey and switched from walnuts to almonds, just because I felt it went better together. I also used shallots instead of the jam and used less olive oil. Lastly, I used sriracha as my hot sauce (who doesn’t love sriracha?!)
Not only was this a crowd-pleaser at my fall get together, I threw in some thinly sliced chicken the next night for dinner and Lu devoured about 4 cups of it! The spicy sweet mustard dressing over the warm brussels sprouts is absolutely divine – you honestly won’t be able to stop eating it.
The almonds are the perfect crunch and the apples really bring out the sweetness in the mustard mixture for that well-balanced spicy, savory and sweet combo. This dish definitely needs to be brought to many fall get togethers around the world! Can you help with that?
What are your favorite dishes to make for fall get togethers?
Nutritional Information & Recipe
Sweet Hot Mustard Brussels Sprout and Apple-Almond Salad
Ingredients
- For the sweet hot mustard:
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- 3/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon sriracha sauce
- For the salad:
- 4 shallots sliced into thin rings
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 3.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound brussels sprouts trimmed and cut into thirds or quarters
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- 2 Gala red apples Blade C
Instructions
- To make the sweet hot mustard, in a large bowl, whisk both mustards, apple cider vinegar, honey and sriracha sauce. Set aside.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat and add in ½ tablespoon of the olive oil. Once oil heats, add in the shallots, season with salt and cover, letting cook for 3-5 minutes or until lightly caramelized, shaking the pan occasionally. Once done, remove the shallots with a slotted spoon and into a large bowl with the sherry vinegar, mustard mixture, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Place the large skillet back over medium-high heat and heat the final two tablespoons of olive oil. Once heated, add the brussels sprouts and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sprouts are just tender and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the mustard-shallot mixture and add in the almonds and apple noodles and toss. Arrange on a platter and serve.
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