Brussel Sprouts & Bacon Salad

Before this year, I hated brussel sprouts, but since doing Paleo earlier this year, my kids and I really love brussel sprouts now.  We found 2 stalks of brussel sprouts at Trader Joe´s for $2.99 each.  You get quite a bit and that is reasonably priced, in my opinion.  This will be the first time ever eating brussel sprouts raw, though.  I think of these little cruciferous heads as being little cabbages, and this can almost serve like a slaw, if you put some mayo type dressing on it.  However, I did not.

This recipe comes from A Pinch of Yum, with my modifications.

Ingredients:

• juice of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 orange
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt & ground pepper
• 1 lb of bacon, cooked and chopped or crumbled
• 4 to 5 dozen brussel sprouts, medium sized
• 1 cup of sliced almonds
• 1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
• 2 to 3 cups fresh pineapple, finely diced or mandarin oranges

Directions:

• Combine the lemon & orange juices together with the onion, olive oil and salt & pepper.  Whisk well. Refrigerate until use.
• Shred brussel sprouts by cutting thin slices with a very sharp knife, holding it such that it does not slip. You can use a mandoline, but I found this much harder than just using a sharp knife.  Since you are doing this with dozens of brussel sprouts, this will take awhile to do.  I wished I had a meat slicer like my dad´s when we were growing up, as that would´ve allowed me to put maybe a dozen brussell sprouts in and slice them easily.  If you have a food processor that has a slicer, this will work much faster, too, but the additional accessories to my food processor is packed away somewhere and I have no clue.  
• Toss brussel sprouts, cheese, almonds, pineapple in a bowl.  Add the dressing you made earlier that is being refrigerate.  Toss all together.
• Serve cold.
• I have also used this leftover salad mixture to cook and add to eggs in the morning.  Very delicious and filled with lots of nutritional ingredients.