Roasted Brussels Salad with Pecans, Bacon and Apple Cider Dressing

Take your fall into your salad with this Roasted Brussels Salad with Pecans, Bacon and Apple Cider Dressing. It is a feast for the eyes and the stomach with whole ingredients and with some preparation comes together in minutes.

Lest we forget fall is not just about pumpkin. There are a never ending kalidescope of beautifully colored fruits and vegetables just waiting to be eaten. In season now: Apples and Brussels Sprouts among many others. I know brussels sprouts are of the epitomy of vegetables you didn’t wanna eat as a kid. But you were a kid and wrong about lots of things, like where babies comes from.

So if you are a naysayer to brussels I challenge YOU to make this salad and then tell me you don’t like ’em.

They are basically like tiny cabbages. Super cute little tiny cabbages.

I took inspiration from this recipe from Half Baked Harvest (I am obsessed and wish my shit looked like hers) and adapted it so it would be MUCH easier to make and take less time. I also lightened it up a bit. I love bacon, but cooking my brussels in bacon fat kinda makes it not so healthy anymore.

I love her recipes, but I don’t like lots of steps and ingredients either.

This salad totally made me do a happy dance from deliciousness. Just imagine in your head the sweetness of roasted brussels sprouts with some pecans for crunch and salty crunchy bacon topped off with this sweet and slightly tangy apple cider dressing. It is like you are ingesting fall- all the best parts of fall are in your mouth with just a touch of bacon to top it off. You got a nice balance of the holy trinity of sugar, salt and fat. But with very little unhealthy fat, mostly healthy from the nuts.

So go ahead and make this amazing salad- it’s filling and satisfying in every way!

What you need

Adapted fom Half Baked Harvest

1 1/2 cups roasted brussels sprouts, cut into thirds.
A few pecans (I used like 7 whole pecans)
1/3 cup chopped honeycrisp apple
1 tablespoon dried cranberries

Sweet Apple Cider Dressing

2 cups Apple Cider
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

How to make it

To roast brussels sprouts

1- Preheat oven to 415
2- Place cut brussels sprouts on foil line baking sheet and spray with cooking spray (I use Trader Joe’s coconut oil spray)
3- Roast about 10-12 minutes per side.

To make the dressing

1- While the brussels are roasting, put sugar and apple cider in a medium sauce pan and whisk together.
2- Put on medium high heat, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.
3- Reduce the liquid to 1/4. Should take about 20-25 minutes.

To assemble the salad

Put everything together on a plate, I used about 2 tablespoons of dressing.