Brussels Sprout Slaw with Mustard Dressing and Maple-Glazed Pecans

Here's a story for you.  Two days ago my parents decided that we were finally going to get back to having friends over for dinner and called up a family whose children are the same ages as my brothers and live right in the neighborhood.  Well, I thought to myself, what an opportunity for blog recipes.  Little did I know that my parents had already set down a hard and fast line about what we were going to make.  It would be lemon risotto and salmon, no more questions.  But of course, I needed to do something a little bit different.  Salmon and lemon risotto are basically the two things I make all the time. 

So I was flipping through some old Bon Appetit magazines and found this wonderful slaw that was on a Thanksgiving menu for 2009.  The family that was coming liked brussel sprouts, we liked brussels sprouts, it was November, coming on Thanksgiving.  It was perfect, and tangy and would pair well with rich risotto. 

My dad went out and bought everything.  The dinner was to be at six.  He returned from the store at about quarter to five.  Good, I thought, I have time.  I started sauteeing onions and the pecans were almost done when...the power went out.  Just on our street, and not even all of the houses.  There was no wind, rain, snow, ice, anything.  It just so happened that one of the transformers malfunctioned on the one day we happened to be having friends over for dinner.

Well, we called them on my mom's cell-phone and told them that they should wait a bit, because we had no power.  Then we gave up.  We told them they could come over and have olives, chips and salsa and we could talk while we waited for the power so we could cook.  We lit a whole bunch of candles and waited.  Eventually they came back on, but we finally ate at 8:30.  Here it is, 10:30 and my eight-year-old brother is still up reading.

Despite being delayed a bit, this slaw was still great.  I really needed a good vegetable recipe for this blog, and found the recipe to be perfect.  I adpated it a bit partly by instead of chopping the brussels in a food processor to doing it by hand as I was afraid that they would just turn to mush. Anyways, here's the adapted recipe:

Brussels Sprout Slaw with Mustard Dressing and Maple-Glazed Pecans
Adapted from Bon Appetit-November 2009

8 Servings

1 cup large pecan halves
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup whole grain Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for greasing foil
1 1/2 pounds brussels sprouts, trimmed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place pecans on small rimmed baking sheet.  Grease large sheet of foil lightly with canola oil.  Whisk maple syrup, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in small bowl.  Add to nuts and toss to coat; spread in single layer.  Bake nuts 5 minutes, stir.  Continue to bake nuts until toasted and glaze is bubbling thickly, about 6 minutes.  Immediately transfer nuts to prepared foil and separate.  Cool completely.  Do ahead:  Can be made 2 days ahead.  Store airtight.

Whisk mustard, vinegar, lemon juice, and sugar in a small bowl; whisk in oil.  Seaon with pepper.

Bring large pot of water to boil.  Add brussels sprouts.  Cook until crisp-tender and still bright green, about 5 minutes.  Drain; rinse with cool water.  Cool on paper towels.

After sprouts are cool, chop into thin slices.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Do ahead: Dressing and brussels sprouts can be made one day ahead.  Cover separately; chill.

Toss brussesls sprouts with enough dressing to coat.  Let marinate 30 to 60 minutes (I only did this for about 15 minutes).  Mix in pecans.  Place slaw in serving bowl.