Jewelled Sprout Slaw
Poor sprouts. They really need to sack their PR team. Spooned reluctantly on to our Christmas plate (“I’ll have one but that’s it”), we almost luxuriate in the ritual of loathing them. But that, I think, is our failure, not the sprouts’. The problem is that we don’t cook them properly, or we cook them at all. A sprout will never be delicious when it has been boiled and certainly not when it has been boiling since Christmas morning as was my Grandma’s preference. The only way to successfully serve a sprout is to fry it or eat it raw and shredded. For the former, I recommend adding any combination of bacon, chestnuts and cream to sprouts browned in butter. Though I have seen them fried and glazed at the last minute in marmalade which was marvelous. For the raw option, and I can’t recommend this enough, you will need patience and skill with a knife or a mandolin (easier but more deadly), because they must be very finely shredded.
Here I’ve braved the mandoline to make a Christmas slaw. This one uses up all the leftover odds and ends you are likely to have languishing in your fridge after Christmas and provides a welcome dose of crisp, crunchy salad as recompense for all the richness of Christmas lunch. It’s bright, refreshing and a total doddle to make.
Jewelled Sprout Slaw
Ingredients:
- 1 large cauliflower
- 2tsp ras el hanout
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 200g sprouts
- 1 small red cabbage
- 2 apples
- ½ pomegranate
- 2 oranges
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tsp honey
Instructions:
- Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Break the cauliflower into small florets and sprinkle with the rase el hanout. Toss in the olive oil and a pinch of salt. Arrange on a tray and roast for 20-25 minutes until the cauliflower is cooked through and charred around the edges.
- Shred the sprouts and red cabbage and put them in a large bowl. Chop the apples into matchsticks and add them to the bowl. Extract the seeds from the pomegranate and add them too. Use a sharp knife to cut segments from the oranges, leaving behind the pith and membrane, then put the segments in the bowl and squeeze out the juice from the offcuts. Add the roasted cauliflower too.
- For the dressing, mix the olive oil, pomegranate molasses, honey and the saved orange juice together with a pinch of salt. Adjust the balance as you see fit then pour it over vegetables and toss gently to combine. Leave for 5 minutes so the flavours can mingle then serve.
