Archive for the 'salads' Category

Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

Kale Brussels Sprout Salad 4 Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

I don’t think I’ve ever been as excited about a big bowl of greens. The hardy, wintery kind – a tub of spring mix just won’t cut it here. Nor would straight-up kale – I actually went to the store just to buy a couple handfuls of Brussels sprouts to add to the bowl – the biggest ones I could find, to make them easier to slice. They were more like mini cabbages. I needed something I could really chew on.

Kale Brussels Sprout Salad 8 Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad
Kale Brussels Sprout Salad 7 Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

It has been a food-heavy week; there have been restaurant openings, I got to emcee a fancy brunch at River Cafe and dinners at CharCut (where for the first course of our progressive dinner they served us one-pound wild boar and Chorizo meatballs smothered with bone marrow béchamel), Catch and Sky 360, and Geoff Rogers‘ new restaurant, Market. We went for ‘shroom pizza and ice cream, checked out Candela Lounge, and after all that I practically ran to Mango Shiva on Saturday morning when I heard they had added butter chicken waffles to their brunch menu.

weekend Collage Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

(If you thought naan was a good pairing, wait until you try butter chicken over crispy waffles.)

And looking back here I’ve been all about chocolate muffins and browned butter blondies, meatballs and mac & cheese. With bacon! See? Kale is clearly called for.

kale salad Collage Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad
Kale Brussels Sprout Salad 6 Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

Brassicas (cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts) and lemon and Parmesan get along splendidly; and I love it thinly sliced into slaw. Haters of Brussels sprouts – my parents are among them – are typically turned off by the bitter, sulfur-like taste they tend to take on when they’re even slightly overcooked. Eating them raw eliminates any chance of that; when I served this to my mom and dad last night, both had seconds. (I didn’t inform them of the presence of B. sprouts until after.)

Kale Brussels Sprout Salad 2 Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

I’m making a second batch tonight – a single batch isn’t quite enough of a ballast. And tomorrow, I think I’ll try the leftovers topped with a poached egg.

Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

Adapted from Bon Appétit

1 bunch leafy green kale
6-10 big Brussels sprouts
1 small chunk of purple onion, thinly sliced or minced
1/3 cup whole roasted, salted, almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino

Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp. grainy mustard
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
1 tsp. sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Remove the ribs and thinly slice the leaves of kale (I do this by stacking or gathering them up in a bunch, then slicing through the stack); cut the Brussels sprouts in half lengthwise and thinly slice them too, holding onto the stem (and then tossing the last bit of stem out). Put them into a bowl with the purple onion.

To make the dressing, shake all the ingredients together in a jar or whisk them in a small bowl. Drizzle generously over the kale and Brussels sprouts and toss to coat. Scatter with almonds and Parmesan and serve. Serves 6.

button print gry20 Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

March 11 2013 | salads | 23 Comments »

Avocado & Pink Grapefruit Salad with Feta

grapefruit salad 1 Avocado & Pink Grapefruit Salad with Feta

As I may have mentioned before, salads aren’t my forte. Although I know that virtually anything has the potential to become a salad, or at least an element of one, spread out or layered or tossed, I can’t shake the old lettuce-tomato-cucumber combo of my childhood.

grapefruit salad 2 Avocado & Pink Grapefruit Salad with Feta

Juicy pink grapefruits -the best of the year- were 28 cents apiece last week, and so I bought four. To populate my fruit bowl, as it turned out. While I love eating them, I’m not a fan of fileting the things. In this case, extracting the segments released enough sweet-tart juice to make a vinaigrette, with a glug of olive oil, splash of rice or white wine vinegar, dab of grainy mustard and a pinch of sugar.

Grapefruit salad 4 Avocado & Pink Grapefruit Salad with Feta

I came across the salad of butter lettuce, pink grapefruit and avocado, three ingredients I just happened to have at the same time – at Not Without Salt. It pushed me out of my spring mix rut.

grapefruit salad 3 Avocado & Pink Grapefruit Salad with Feta

The deep ruffles of smooth, mellow butter lettuce were perfect with creamy avocado, juicy grapefruit and salty, briny feta. And like most salads, you don’t need a recipe, just a direction to go. Like me.

pixel Avocado & Pink Grapefruit Salad with Feta
button print gry20 Avocado & Pink Grapefruit Salad with Feta

January 13 2013 | salads and vegetarian | 12 Comments »

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