Warm brussels sprout salad

Brussels sprouts have a bad rep, but I love them.  I didn’t grow up eating them, but I did grow up eating stir fried cabbage with bacon.  So when I first had the warm brussels sprouts salad from Pizza Antica in Lafayette, I was in love.  After my first time having it, I tried to replicate this dish.  I have been playing around with this dish for years, but now feel that I own it.  A few weeks ago, I tried this dish at Pizza Antica again and was disappointed.   Here is my easy version of Pizza Antica’s warm brussels sprout salad:

Ingredients:
1/2 lb of brussels sprouts
4 slices of bacon
1/4 of a red onion
2 large eggs
1 tbsp of balsamic vinaigrette

Prep:
The hardest part of this recipe is time spent removing the leaves.  It’s a bit time consuming, but it gets faster and easier with practice.  I use a small knife and cut the leaves off.

I drench the leaves in a tub of cold water.  After a few minutes I put the leaves through a salad spinner to dry them off.  I put these aside.

I slice the red onion and put these aside.

Cooking:
Boil eggs in a small covered pot on medium heat.  As soon as the water boils, while still covered turn heat down to low.  Cook for exactly seven minutes.  After seven minutes, pour out water and soak in cold water.  When cold water warms, exchange to cold water again.  The egg shells should come off easily.

Cook 4 slices of bacon on medium heat in a large skillet until golden brown on both sides.

Remove bacon and place on paper towels.  Remove some of the bacon grease, but keep one tablespoon in the pan.  Heat up the pan and add the red onion stirring occasionally.

After a few minutes, add the brussels sprout leaves.  Stir the leaves trying to coat through.

Cover the pan.  Stir occasionally.  When the leaves are cooked down (about 5 min) pour 1 tbsp of your favorite balsamic vinaigrette (you can also make your own) and continue to stir.  This will create some sizzle and start to brown the leaves.

Remove from heat after about 30 seconds.  Plate the brussels sprout leaves and top with bacon and hard boiled egg.

Enjoy!  Pizza Antica adds croutons in their salad.  I like to eat the salad with Acme’s Pan d’Epi (wheat stalk shaped bread).  Yum!

For the vegetarians, skip the bacon and use olive oil to cook the onion and brussels sprout leaves.  You could also add a little vegetable broth during the 5 minutes that the brussels sprouts are cooking.