Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Apple, Almond, and Parmesan

This is the first post on this blog with the tag "vegetable."

It's a good one, though! My lack of experience does not in any way correlate to a lack of interest or ability. Well, maybe a little.

I did forget to wash the sprouts after peeling off the outside crinkly leaves. But all was well, we washed everything, if a bit out of order and chaotically.

This salad is super easy and flavorful. Thinly sliced sprouts hang out in a lemon dijon vinaigrette until nice and melded, then get spruced up with apple, Parmesan cheese, and almonds. I shaved the sprouts in the food processor, but you could also thinly slice very carefully with a knife or use a mandoline.

Our spread on the big day

It was a hit! There have been several similar recipes floating around on the internet, but I first tasted this salad in our dining hall. It was so delicious my friend and I got up for seconds, and I think I may have had more salad instead of dessert. So addictive. I don't think they had apples, but it's a great addition! So sweet and crunchy.

Make this today, make it next week for lunch, make it to have a large amount of easy to serve, pre-made, keeps-well salad in your fridge all week. It's like a no-mayo slaw, chopped salad, and crunch town all mashed together.

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Apple, Almond, and Parmesan
Makes a TON. We had 7 people and ate less than half of it with Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced very thin
• About 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (grate on large holes of a box grater)
• 1 sweet apple (I used fuji), diced and tossed in a squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/2 cup almonds, slivered or thinly sliced (I forgot to toast them, but they would be better toasted)

Method:

1. Whisk lemon juice, mustard, shallot, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt together in large bowl. Add brussels sprouts and toss to coat, using your hands for maximum leverage. Let sit for at least half an hour in the fridge.
2. Prepare the cheese, apple, and almonds in small bowls.
3. When you're close to serving time, add in the cheese, apple, and almonds and toss again to combine.
4. Salad keeps with little degradation for several days in the fridge.

Recipe adapted from Cook's Country and Yale Dining.

Massaged Kale Salad

Some things, you just eat whole. Like...who makes croutons and then puts jam on them instead of having a piece of toast?

Wait, actually, that sounds strangely delicious.

Right. Well,this is salad. One of those things where you chop everything up and eat a bit of each thing in each bite.

I really like that about salads...and soup, and stir-fry/pasta things with veggies etc mixed in. It drives my grandmother bonkers though.

She's visiting.

She hasn't had the kale yet. But I guess since salad's pretty conventionally a small chunk item, it would be okay?

Oh, also, common scents of the day is that cake pops and meatballs are surprisingly parallel food objects (SPFOs). Mashed up stuff that's (usually) whole--meat/cake--with a binder.

So, for a zen eating experience, start with falafel, then have meatballs, and seal the deal with a cake pop.

 

This is not something you measure ingredients for. Just go for it.

It's all about giving your kale some love. 

Trim out the woody stems, roll to cut multiple layers at once, and toss them in a bowl.

Sprinkle on a good 2 teaspoons of KOSHER salt and however much olive oil seems right

Ready? Get your hands messy. Massage the kale with the olive oil and salt. It turns from a lighter, opaque green into this deep, vibrant, green.

If I were to describe the color, I'd say it's a liquid green. I promise, the salad is not soppy, though.

Squeeze on half a lemon (take out those seeds!) and crank on some pepper.

Toss again! It keeps in the fridge really well too!

We liked it with apricots or raisins and sunflower seeds, but pine nuts, almonds, cashews, or cranberries would all be great!

OH man.

These are not bitter greens. They're seriously addictive.

And olive oil makes nice hand lotion, too. Salt adds emollient benefits!