Kicking Off Our First Book Club with Bite-sized Brussels Sprouts Salads

A Book-themed Tabletop

After a few years apart, I’m so excited our book club is back together to stay! It’s so fun to have a group of girls to get together with every month, and, as crazy as it sounds, it’s fabulous to have a little extra motivation to get back into reading regularly. Life can be so busy and I’ve forgotten how much I enjoy it. Our first book was The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers. It was such a heartwarming story and definitely brought out a few tears for all of us!

We hosted our book club’s kickoff reception at our house. I kept the decor heavily book-themed with stacks of a few of my favorite books on top of a bold checkered tablecloth (polyester version here). These stacks were the perfect solution to add a little height and color to the table. I added a few decorative pumpkins here and there since this was a few weeks ago at the height of pumpkin season.

Of course, we had to have a few witty cocktail napkins! I always keep my eye out for them. I think these are hilarious.

We decided that our book club would host “receptions” – not meetings – and that they would be potluck to make things easier for everyone’s busy schedules. Everyone brought either a dish or a bottle of wine and we ended up with everything from baked Brie to fruit to hummus – and lots of dishes in between. To bring in the holidays, I made mini versions of my Brussels sprout salad. I’ve been asked for the recipe so many times, so I wanted to share it with y’all today. And, guys, it is so simple. Isn’t it always the case that the easiest dishes to make are everyone’s favorites?

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1 package fresh Brussels sprouts

Olive oil (good quality; you’ll need a few tablespoons – 3 tbsp for the vinaigrette)

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup dried cranberries (we used reduced sugar Craisins)

1 tsp white granulated sugar + 1 pinch

1/4 cup chopped pecans or pine nuts, toasted (optional)

Directions:

If you’re using chopped nuts, toast them in the pan first until they brown. Watch them carefully as they can burn easily. Once browned, set them aside.

For the Brussels sprouts:

Chop the Brussels sprouts into rough strips. Heat a large pan on medium-high heat and add 1/2 tablespoon or so of olive oil (just enough to keep your ingredients from sticking to the bottom). Toss in your Brussels sprouts. If you have more than can comfortably fit in the pan (this always happens to me), cook them in batches.

Cook until the Brussels sprouts are just beginning to wilt (about 4-6 minutes), then add in your dried cranberries, granulated sugar, and chopped nuts. Drizzle in a little bit of olive oil.

Take your Brussels sprouts off the heat and spoon them into a large bowl.

For the vinaigrette:

In a bowl (or this OXO salad dressing shaker – it’s one of my favorite kitchen gadgets), mix in 3 tbsp of olive oil, Dijon mustard, red wine or apple cider vinegar, a pinch of granulated sugar, and salt and pepper. Make sure that you taste your vinaigrette. If it tastes too much like olive oil, add a bit more Dijon or vinegar. If it has too much of a bite, try a pinch of sugar or a drizzle of olive oil.

Toss the vinaigrette into your Brussels sprouts and serve them up! They’re best when slightly warm, but are just as delicious when served at room temperature.

For our book club bash, we served these in individual appetizer bowls like these and these along with disposable appetizer forks.

Outfit details:

Wearing the most fabulous top by Kobi Halperin found at one of my favorite shops, Halsbrook. It’s sold out, but there are similar ones by the same designer here, here, and here. I can’t begin to tell y’all how amazingly luscious the silk is – wonderful quality that’s well worth the tag.

Jeans are Rag & Bone high rise skinny jeans (tipping my hat to my friends Lindsay and Kayla for recommending these).