Well this feels a bit weird. Writing about winter food in the middle of the night from a cute little house with a tiny swimmingpool in warm and humid Bali, Indonesia. We decided to skip Christmas this year and instead bring the kids on a sort of honeymoon holiday, so we left Stockholm last week and will stay here in Bali for a couple of more weeks. We’re mostly airbnb-ing around the island and have already experienced lots of beautiful places, monsoon down pours mixed with sunshine, excellent tempeh (and crunchy sweet tempeh), creepy insects and countless fruit platters and smoothie bowls. Traveling with three kids is definitely trickier than just one or two but we’re learning and adapting. And at the end of each day it still feels so rewarding seeing the world with them and talking about all the funny and weird travel related subjects that pop-up in their heads. Several years ago we wrote a blog post (and a chapter in our travel book) about traveling with kids and we’re thinking about writing an updated version with more guidelines and tips that we’ve picked up as our crew has grown. Let us know if you’d be interested in that.
But enough about that now. The goal of the day was simply to share this little salad before Christmas is over. I realize that it’s a little late and many of you have already planned your holiday menu. But if you happen to be searching for a side dish that also could work as a main salad and is both pretty and damn tasty, you should give this one a try. We have made this recipe a couple of times in the weeks before we left. Crunchy roasted brussels sprouts have always been a popular dish in our house but what we’ve done lately is adding coconut chips to the tray and also dust everything with cinnamon and finely chopped hazelnuts which adds a super nice nuttiness to the dish. Dried apricots offer sweetness and chewiness, lentils make it more filling and blood orange more festive and fresh. We serve this salad with a simple yogurt dressing but you can skip that if you want to make it vegan. Or drizzle with tahini instead. We love this little dish and hope you will too.
That’s it. The last post of the year. Have a wonderful holiday with lots of good food and we’ll be back in the beginning of January with more recipes, videos, anecdotes, maybe some Bali photos and what not. Thank you for following along! Hugs and kisses.
– David, Luise and the kids.
Brussels Sprouts & Blood Orange Salad with Cinnamon & Hazelnut Dust
Serves 4
500 g brussels sprouts
olive oil or coconut oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
sea salt & pepper
1 handful coconut flakes / chips
100 g / 1/2 cup uncooked black lentils
500 ml / 2 cups water, to cook
olive oil to drizzle
salt and pepper
1/2 lemon, juice
2 blood oranges
1 handful dried apricot
1 handful hazelnuts
1 cup natural yoghurt
1/2 lemon, juice
1 large handful fresh parsley
Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
Trim bottom of brussels sprouts and cut them in halves. Place in a bowl, drizzle with a few tablespoons oil, sprinkle with cinnamon and salt and toss to cover all. Place on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes until they are soft, golden and have crispy edges. A few minutes before the brussels sprouts are done, take out the tray and scatter over a handful of coconut chips, drizzle with oil and cinnamon and place the tray back in the oven and roast until golden.
Meanwhile, prepare the lentils. Place rinsed lentils and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes, check the exact time, it depends on your specific type lentils. They should be soft and chewy, not mushy. Pour into a sieve to remove any excess water. Place in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Peel and slice the blood oranges, chop the dried apricots and finely chop the toasted hazelnuts. Place the yogurt in a small bowl and stir in lemon juice, chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste
Arrange the roasted brussels sprouts and coconut chips on a serving platter together with the lentils. Add sliced blood oranges and scatter with dried apricot and hazelnut dust. Finely add dollops of yogurt sauce and chopped parsley.
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