Festive Brussels Sprouts and Green Bean Salad
‘Tis the season for celebrating and feasting! While the proteins might take center stage, the side dishes are just as important. This Festive Brussels Sprouts and Green Bean Salad combines two side favorites into one beautiful dish.
Brussels sprouts and green beans are both classic additions to the holiday table. This colorful salad combines both into one dish bringing both new and familiar flavors.
Celebrating Sides
Whether you look forward to a Christmas ham or New Year’s prime rib, you need a cast of supporting sides to turn the meal into a celebration. With its lush colors and textures, this Festive Brussels Sprouts and Green Bean Salad is picture perfect for the holiday table.
The holiday season while joyous and fun is also a busy time of year. I love having dishes that are not only reliable and easy, but also great to make ahead. Part of the reason that I love this dish is that the prep can be done ahead of time and all I have to do is toss it together in a pretty bowl when ready to serve.
With so many heavy dishes at the holidays I also love serving fresh sides to bring balance. It doesn’t hurt that there’s also bacon. Because bacon really does make everything better.
This festive salad has a little something for everyone. In addition to the bacon, there’s also tangy and tart pomegranate arils and dried cranberries. They burst with both flavor and color. Your favorite tangy cheese is at home in this salad. You can pick either blue cheese or the salty bite of feta. Pepitas provide a bit of crunch and warm nutty flavor while the sweet and tangy dressing ties it all together. Honey, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil are all that is needed to highlight these fresh ingredients.
Dressing Your Festive Brussels Sprouts and Green Bean Salad
With the holidays in full swing and the countdown on, there’ no need to stress about what to serve. This salad requires just a little prep that can be done ahead of time and then assembled in minutes. Let’s break down all of the steps so you can have this stunning dish on your holiday table.
- Trim your Brussels sprouts and green beans. If there are any loose leaves, remove them from the sprouts and trim off the end. Likewise with the green beans if you have any stems simply cut off the ends.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and have a bowl of ice water ready. Once the water is boiling give it a little seasoning of salt. Add your Brussels sprouts and green beans and boil them for five minutes, or until they turn bright green. Transfer them to the ice bath to lock in that color and stop the cooking. This can be done well ahead of time. Make sure to thoroughly dry them off.
- Just like you can cook the Brussels sprouts and green beans ahead of time, you can also cook the bacon ahead of time.
- To make mixing the dressing easier, simply add it to a mason jar and shake until its thoroughly combined.
- When ready to serve, add your vegetables, bacon, pepitas, and cranberries to a bowl Pour the dressing over and toss to combine. Top with the blue cheese or feta, and your pomegranate arils.
Are you looking for more holiday side ideas? Make sure you check out my recipe for Two Potato Gratin with Maille Mustard.
Festive Brussels Sprouts and Green Bean Salad
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Bowls
Ingredients
Festive Brussels Sprouts and Green Bean Salad
- 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts, trimmed
- 1/2 lbs green beans, ends trimmed
- 1 cup bacon cooked and chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 2 tbsp pepitas
- 2 tbsp blue cheese or feta, crumbled
- 2 tbsp pomegranate arils
Honey-Balsamic Dressing
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
- pinch of salt and pepper
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt. In a separate bowl create and ice water bath. You are going to be blanching the vegetables.
- Add your Brussels sprouts and green beans to the boiling water. Boil for 5 minutes or until they turn bright green. Immediately transfer them to the ice bath to lock in the color and stop the cooking.
- Thoroughly drain and dry the Brussels sprouts and green beans.
- To make the salad, mix the ingredients for the salad dressing until combined. This can be done by adding them to a jar and shaking.
- Add Brussels sprouts, green beans, pepitas, cranberries, and bacon to a bowl and mix to combine.
- Pour the dressing over the top and stir so all of the ingredients are coated.
- Top with crumbled cheese and pomegranate arils. Enjoy!