Warm Bacon & Brussel Sprout Salad- Whole 30, Paleo

I love salads- I really do. But for a little while, I was in a bit of a salad rut. Always using the same veggies. Lettuce, Tomatoes, Carrots, Cucumbers. Always adding roasted chicken for protein. The biggest thing I did to “mix it up” was change the dressing. It was boring. And I was over it.

Then entered this salad.

This salad brings in everything. My favorite breakfast food- bacon. My favorite roasted veggie- brussel sprouts. My favorite carb- sweet potatoes. It’s a mix of warm roasted veggies and crumbled bacon with the crispy, refreshing apple on top of a crunchy slaw. It brings together the savory and the sweet.

I like to put this on top of a kale slaw mix. My favorite is this Kale Salad Slaw at Walmart, but the Broccoli and Kale Slaw from Trader Joe’s is a good option too. Basically anything that combines all the greens that I didn’t have to chop myself 😊

I tie it all together with a homemade mustard dressing. But you can put any dressing of your choice. In my opinion the mustard + apples + brussels is just the best. If you want to copy my dressing, all you need is a little EVOO, a very tiny splash of ACV, stone ground mustard, and fresh cracked salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

Salad for 4
1 Bag of salad slaw (kale salad slaw from Walmart and Broccoli and Kale Slaw from TJ’s are my favorite)
1 bag of brussel sprouts, sliced
2 sweet potatoes, diced
6 slices of bacon
2 Honeycrisp/Pink Lady apples, sliced thin
2 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1-2 Tbsp roasted sunflower seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Lay your bacon on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the bacon in a cool oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Let the bacon cook for 20 minutes while the oven preheats. Once the bacon has cooked and cooled, crumble the bacon.
2. While the bacon is cooking, dice and slice your veggies and fruit.
3. On the stovetop, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a sauté pan. Add in the sliced brussel sprouts. Season with ½ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper. Cook until the brussel sprouts are crispy
4. Prepare the diced sweet potatoes for roasting. Coat the potatoes with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, 1tsp of salt and 1tsp of thyme.
5. Once the oven is preheated, roast the sweet potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes.
6. Place the slaw in a large bowl. Place the crumbled bacon, sauted brussel sprouts, roasted sweet potatoes, and sliced apples on top. Sprinkle with roasted sunflower seeds for an extra crunch.
7. Enjoy!