Merry Christmas,
Here in Sweden we’re one day before the day we celebrate, i.e. the 24th. That means it’s a day of preparations and I thought it was a good day to post my final Christmas fueled recipe of this year. I’ve got a brussels sprout salad for you! I never grew up eating brussels sprouts as my mother doesn’t like them but with Rob in my life I have been introduced to them in various ways. My favourite way of cooking them is to roaste them in halves making the outside crisp and inside tender. In this salad I incorporate kale which is another typical Christmas vegetable here in Sweden and I’m sure in many other places? I also toast some sweet and smokey almonds which go perfectly with the brussels sprouts and top it all off with some pomegranate kernels for a pop of colour and juicy sweetness.
You might be wondering what we’re getting up to tomorrow that we need to prepare for so I thought I’d tell you. We celebrate with a feast of a lunch and since it’s served around mid day there’s no resting on any laurels and preparation is key. This is followed by watching Donald Duck and his friends on tv which is a medley of Disney classics snippets from the past to the future. Along with that we eat something called ris a la malta which is a rice pudding mixed with whipped cream and canned mandarin, very traditional. This is followed by gift unwrapping and sweets. Then in the evening we eat more food, left overs, possibly some rice pudding and sit around and chat or play games.
But really the festivities start tonight with what Swedes like to call ‘uppesittarkväll’ which is usually spent playing bingo on tv. This is an institution that just keeps on going even though everything else has changed. There are prices, rhyming for presents and funny Swedish music artists performing (sometimes lovely too). So this is the day we start enjoying Christmas for real and with that said I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I shall see you again after the festivities. Enjoy! x
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BRUSSELS SPROUT SALAD W/ KALE, POMEGRANATE AND SMOKEY ALMONDS
YIELDS: 4-5 servings as a side / TIME: 40 min
500 g brussels sprouts, trimmed
A drizzle of olive oil
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp liquid smoke
Sprinkle of sea salt
5 large stems kale, destemmed and torn into bite size pieces
A drizzle of olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1/3 pomegranate, the kernels
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Halve your trimmed brussels sprouts and place onto an oven tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with chilli flakes, salt and pepper and mix with your hands until they’re all coated. Roast in the oven for roughly 25-30 minutes or until slightly browned, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
Whilst the brussels sprouts are roasting prepare your almonds simply by placing them into a non-stick pan along with maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener), liquid smoke and sea salt. Turn stove onto medium heat and toast until the nuts are sticky and slightly browned, should take roughly 3-5 minutes once the heat has come through. Set aside.
Proceed to preparing the kale which can be done in the same pan as the almonds. Simply remove the almonds, add a splash of water as well as the kale, salt and pepper and mix. Let sweat covered with a lid over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes or until tender.
Once the brussels sprouts are roasted scatter them over the now cooked kale before sprinkling the nuts and pomegranate kernels over the top.