holiday salads: crispy kale and brussels sprouts salad with pecorino and almonds

photo credit: Stella Chen (updated Feb 2014)

I haven't posted in a while...been busy with life lately...And with our CSA a lot of our meals have been improvised, including a lot of frittata and roasted vegetable dishes to use up whatever random roots or vegetables we've received. It's made me a better cook I think - needing to think of improvisations. But a couple of friends have asked me recently what happened to my blog, so I thought I would post a few recipes around the holidays. I made this salad for Thanksgiving. The lemon and dijon vinaigrette make it a bright salad to complement other (heavier) sides. I've made it a few times since and will make it again on Christmas Eve.

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 T Dijon mustard
1 T minced shallot
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 large bunches of Tuscan kale (about 1 1/2 pounds total), center stem discarded, leaves thinly sliced
12 ounces brussels sprouts, trimmed, cut in half, then cut whisper-thin
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup almonds with skins, coarsely chopped
1 cup finely grated Pecorino

1. mix vinaigrette: lemon juice, dijon, with minced shallot and grated garlic, salt and pepper, set aside.

2. prep kale: fold the leaf over and hold the leaf with one hand, so you can rip out the tough stem with the other. then stack the leaves, roll together into a fat wad, and cut in thin slices (chiffonade). Cut brussels sprouts (trim stem, slice in half, then slice thinly). 

3. toast almonds with a bit of oil in a pan. salt lightly. 

3. Add 1/3 cup oil to dressing, whisk. 

When you're ready to serve, mix everything together. If prepping in advance, you can keep toasted almonds, cheese, dressing, and kale mixture separate. 

The recipe is from epicurious.