Stealing From Friends: Raw Brussels Sprout Salad with Fennel, Cherries & Tempeh Bacon

Salad in White BowlI won’t say who, but one of us in the household loves and appreciates that wee, sweet cabbage, the Brussels sprout.  One of us could live the rest of his days never spearing his fork into another one of the adorable, little green globes.  In a last ditch effort to save the Brussels sprout from permanent exile, I had to give this salad a try – featured on my friend Nancy’s (beautiful) blog, LoveLaughVeggies in her post Raw?  No Way!  I did make some changes.  The original has Parmesan cheese and olive oil – neither of which reside in my home (yes, they have been permanently exiled).  To start things off, I decided to use a variation of my No-Oil Salad Dressing.  I thought the orange juice would make a sweet-tart companion to the raw sprouts.  Shallots added the bite that was needed.  And then I went from there.  The happy ending is that both of us in the household now enjoy eating Brussels sprouts.

A quick thanks here to Lidia for re-posting Tuesday’s diatribe about school lunches, The Vegan Option, on VeganBloggersUnite! – if you haven’t checked out VBU, please do so, it’s a really cool site.  You can also find VBU on Facebook and Twitter.

Raw Brussels Sprout Salad with Fennel, Cherries & Tempeh Bacon
Serves 4

Salad:
1/2 lb. Brussels sprouts
1 large head fennel, top trimmed and roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup dried tart cherries, roughly chopped
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 tsp. orange zest
crumbled tempeh bacon (about 2 slices per serving), optional

Chopped Brussel Sprouts

Dressing:
6 tbsp. orange juice
3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
pinch salt

Fennel Seeds in Pestle

In a large bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing.  Set aside.

Bowl with DressingIn a food processor, chop the Brussels sprouts (you may have to work in batches) until finely chopped.  Add to the bowl with the salad dressing.  Process the fennel and the carrots in the same way and add to the Brussels sprouts.  Add the cherries, walnuts and orange zest and stir well to combine. Divide among four bowls and crumble tempeh bacon on top of each salad, if desired.

Serve!

(The dressing on this is very light – I like it that way – but feel free to play around with the amounts of the various ingredients.  Subbing apple juice for the orange juice would be nice – along with adding shredded tart apple instead of the cherries.  Keep the fennel – it’s outstanding!)

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17 thoughts on “Stealing From Friends: Raw Brussels Sprout Salad with Fennel, Cherries & Tempeh Bacon

  1. infinebalance says:

    I too am alone in my appreciation of the sprout. I’m making this – never considered them raw but we do raw cabbage all them time, so why not. Awesome idea!

    • An Unrefined Vegan says:

      I kept trying different ways of preparing them so that my partner would like them – and nothing worked! Until this. And you can totally change it up with a different dressing or adding other veggies.

  2. tearoomdelights says:

    This looks like a great use for Brussels sprouts. I’m not a huge fan of them cooked, but raw would be a different matter entirely. Lovely photos!

  3. Rachel in Veganland says:

    YUM! I love my vegetables raw and I always sneak a couple little brussels’ leaves when I’m chopping them etc.! They are so delicious and have such a tasty little bite to them. This salad looks simply divine!

  4. luminousvegans says:

    Yes! This salad sounds so tasty. Like Rachel above, I always munch on some raw brussels sprouts when I am chopping them up for roasting. Raw or roasted…brussels sprouts are ‘da bomb!

  5. The Vegan Kat says:

    This looks really good! I love brussels sprouts, but haven’t really tried them raw before. Looks tasty!

  6. Kinenchen says:

    Would it be bad if I made this and then ate all 4 servings?

  7. Veggiewitch says:

    This looks phenomenal! thank you for sharing. =0)

  8. Shira says:

    Ha! Just writing a brussels post now….raw too! Love this vegetable and this looks wonderful!

  9. Richgail Enriquez says:

    Where do you get your tempeh bacon? Am very curious.

    • An Unrefined Vegan says:

      I buy plain tempeh at Whole Foods and then slice it thinly, marinate in veggie broth, maple syrup, Bragg Liquid Aminos, black peppe and a dash of Liquid Smoke. Brown it and there it is! Delicious. And no gristle!

  10. Crowing Crone Joss says:

    I love brussel sprouts and have never even thought of eating them raw. Oh I am definitely trying this. Wandered here from arignagardener and so glad I did.

    • An Unrefined Vegan says:

      Hi! I’m glad you came by! I know, I’d never thought of eating them raw, either. It works!

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