Christmassy salad with roasted Brussel sprouts, gingerbread spiced flank steak and glögg syrup dressing (gluten-free, dairy-free, kosher)

Roasted Brussel sprouts, gingerbread spiced flank steak and glögg syrup dressing - this salad is festive enough to make an appearance at a Christmas table!

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You know what peeps? It's December 1st! Which means in exactly a month we'll all be done with Christmas stress and we've rang in the New Year! I'll be waking up to the first day of 2017 in the arms of my Gothenburger in Hotel Kamp, the fanciest hotel of the whole country - how about you guys?

Well... okay. In all honesty these weeks leading up to Christmas do seem to bring out a lot more in people than just stress-driven, anxiety-ridden monsters: it really is the season of good will. That's something I'd like to have around all year long, God knows we'll always have something to stress about anyway!

And as it goes, my life-long nemesis; Brussel sprouts have made their appearance in the shops. And somehow they managed to weasel their way into my basket, too. I've hated it all my life, but o tempora, o mores - how the times have changed!

Last year before Christmas I finally came to realize that bugger can actually be turned into something genuinely good! For the recipe that lead to this epiphany, check out the blog post for Brussel sprouts, bacon and chestnut bake.

I've also been smuggling some Brussel sprouts into my holiday season in the form of this side dish (with bacon, you ask? Well, of course!) and an Irish classic: colcannon.

Rather Christmassy is this recipe, too. Brussel sprouts roasted in the oven with red onions, paired with another seasonal treat: pomegranate seeds, pistacchios and flank steak that got its dry rub from gingerbread spice mix (!)

And to top it all off, some glögg syrup dressing. Ho, ho, ho! 

As a main course for 2, as part of a Christmas table for 4

Christmassy salad with roasted Brussel sprouts, gingerbread spiced flank steak and glögg syrup dressing:

Roasted Brussel sprouts:

1 box (300 g) Brussel sprouts

3 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

salt, pepper

1 large red onion (or 2 small ones)

Gingerbread spiced flank steak:

500 g flank steak

2 tsp gingerbread spice mix

salt, pepper

for frying: a couple of tbsp of butter and/or a couple of tbsp oil

To serve:

seeds from 1/2 pomegranate

a handful of toasted and salted pistacchios, roughly chopped (about 1/2 of 125 g bag)
2 spring onions

Glögg syrup dressing:

6 dl ready made glögg

2 tbsp(brown) sugar

the zest of 1/2 orange, in a strip

2 tbsp mayonnaise

pinch of salt, black pepper and allspice

Start by making the glögg syrup - this way it'll have tie to cool down. 

Measure glögg, orange zest and sugar into a small pot. Boil over high heat until it has reduced to syrupy consistency and you're left with about 1 dl (10-15 mins). Remove the orange zest and cool. Then whizz it in a blender (or whisk by hand) with mayonnaise to a smooth dressing. Season as needed.

Heat oven to 225° (in a fan oven 200° should do). Trim the Brussel sprouts and remove any unsightly yellow/ brown outer leaves. Cut lengthwise in half. Spread them in an oven dish, add oil and spices and toss until well coated. Roast for 10 minutes (the cut side u if you want them to get a nice colour). In the meanwhile prep the remaining ingredients.

Peel the pistacchios and chop roughly, Deseed the pomegranate. Chop the spring onion. Peell red onion(s), cut lengthwise in half and then roughly into chunks.

Pat the meat dry. Rub the spice mix into the meat on both sides. Season generously with salt and pepper. Using butter and/or oil, fry over a hot pan 3-4 inutes per side Transfer from the pan and leave to rest, covered in foil, for 10 minutes. 

After roasting the Brussel sprouts for 10 minutes add the red onion and continue roasting for another 7-10 minutes, depending on the desired doneness.

Spoon Brussel sprouts and red onion onto the serving dish. Sprinkle spring onion, pomegranate seeds and pistacchios (leave some for decorating) on top of them. Cut the flank steak (against the grain) into thin strips and place on top of the salad. 

Serve with the dressing.

For wine pairing I would go for something medium bodied, with soft tannins and ripe berry notes, such as a New Zealand Pinot Noir or California Zinfandel, such as this gem from Sonoma.

Wishing you all a happy Holiday season!

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ANYONE FOR SECONDS?

      

SHARING IS CARING!