A Salad of Brussels Sprouts, Clementines, and Russet Apple

Preparation Put a large pan of water on to boil. Trim the sprouts, then remove the outer leaves and put them into a bowl of cold water. Slice what is left of the sprouts into quarters and add to the leaves. Rinse thoroughly, then drain. Lightly salt the boiling water, then lower in the sprouts. Leave them to cook for a maximum of two minutes, until their colors are bright. Have ready a bowl of water with ice cubes in it. Failing that, a basin of very cold water. Drain the sprouts and put them into the iced water. This will stop them cooking. Remove the peel from the clementines. Slice the fruit in half, then into thin slices, and place in the salad bowl. Halve the apple, then cut each half into thin segments, removing any seeds as you go. Toss the apples with the clementines. In a dry pan, toast the sesame seeds to a rich golden brown, then tip half of them into a small bowl and the remainder into the clementines and sprouts. Return the pan to the heat, and add the oil and then the almonds. Leave them to cook, moving them around the pan every few minutes, until they are golden and fragrant. Salt lightly, then remove and place on kitchen paper. Drain and lightly dry the sprouts and their leaves, then toss them gently with the apples and clementines. Squeeze the clementine and lemon and stir their juice into the reserved sesame seeds. With a fork or a small whisk, beat in the olive oil, white wine vinegar and honey. Season with salt and black pepper, then use to dress the salad. From The Christmas Chronicles: Notes, Stories & 100 Essential Recipes for Winter © 2018 by Nigel Slater. Reprinted by permission of Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Buy the full book from HarperCollins or from Amazon.