Citric Acid Free Brussels Sprout Salad with Pomegranate and Walnuts
Shaved raw Brussels sprouts form the crunchy, nutrient-packed base here, and once they soak up the dressing for a few minutes, they soften just enough to become genuinely craveable. The combination of jewel-bright pomegranate arils, crisp apple slices, and toasty walnuts makes every forkful interesting — sweet, nutty, and fresh all at once. Avoiding citric acid as a preservative or additive can make store-bought dressings and packaged salad kits a minefield, but this one is built entirely from scratch with whole, recognizable ingredients. The dressing leans on fresh lemon juice, tahini, raw honey, and warm spices like turmeric and ginger, so you get real depth of flavor without anything processed or hidden on a label. Letting the dressed sprouts rest for ten minutes before adding the remaining ingredients is a small step that makes a big difference, mellowing any bitterness and letting everything come together beautifully. It's the kind of salad that looks impressive enough for a dinner party but is genuinely easy to pull off on a weeknight.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the salad
- 1 lb brussels sprouts, tough outer leaves removed
- 1 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced
- ¾ cup pomegranate arils
- ½ cup dry-roasted walnuts, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
For the dressing
- 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp raw honey
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
- ¼ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- 1
Trim the stem end of each Brussels sprout and halve them lengthwise. Place each half cut-side down and slice crosswise as thinly as possible — about 1/8-inch slices — using a sharp knife or mandoline, until all sprouts are shaved. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- 2
In a small bowl or jar, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, honey, turmeric, ginger, garlic, salt, and black pepper until smooth and emulsified.
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