About the Recipe
In terms of a healthy salad, you can't do much better than the Kale & Brussel Sprout Salad. It sounds almost too healthy to be tasty but that's where it surprises you. This recipe is proof that kale is best paired with citrus-based dressing and balanced with strong flavours to counteract the bitterness. The key to making it work is chopping the kale very finely and shredding the Brussel Sprouts very finely. You can substitute different nuts for the almonds (i.e. hazelnuts) and you can even add some fried, chopped bits of smoked bacon, if you want to be decadent.
Ingredients
140g almonds (toasted preferably)
fresh lemon juice from 1 large lemon
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (about 1 medium)
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
•120ml extra-virgin olive oil
500g kale (about 2 small bunches), stemmed, leaves very thinly sliced
400g Brussels sprouts, trimmed, thinly sliced
65g parmesan or aged gouda cheese, grated on the large holes of a box grater
1 crisp apple, such as Pink Lady or Honeycrisp, cored, cut into matchsticks
Preparation
Heat oven to 180C. Place almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and toast 8-10 minutes, tossing once or twice. Spread out and let cool, then coarsely chop. Set aside.
Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice, mustard, shallot, garlic, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper in a medium bowl, then whisk in oil in a slow, steady stream. Set aside.
Mix together kale and Brussels sprouts in a large mixing bowl. Add about 3/4 of the dressing, and use your hands to massage dressing into greens. Taste and add more dressing as needed (you may not need all of it). Reserve any leftover dressing for another use.
Add cheese, apple; toss together to combine, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl, and top with nuts.
Serve ast room temperature.