Food: Cabbage and Brussels Sprout Salad

A couple of weeks ago one of my coworkers brought this salad in his lunch. Due to the bleakness of winter and the drabness of our office space, there was much oohing and ahhing over the bright colors, and the melding of iridescent purple with fresh green. Then came the talk about how this could probably be considered a "super foods" sort of meal. Everyone appeared quite impressed...and potentially a little jealous. But the coincidence was, I had already added the ingredients for this salad to my grocery list the day prior...My colleague and I had both apparently nabbed the recipe out of the latest Food and Wine magazine in the same week.

There are a bunch of things to like about this salad: It's relatively simple. It has wonderful flavors - almost like a modern, super healthy coleslaw (it may become my replacement for the regular kind once summer rolls around). It's bright and colorful. It's hearty. It would fit with multiple seasons (hence my previous comment about summer). It's a booming combination of flavors - sweet, tart, spicy, nutty, and bright. And it's so super fulfilling.

The first day we had this was for lunch as a side to a wonderfully warm and crisp Jarlesburg and Tuscan Pane (an awesome bread found at Trader Joe's) grilled cheese sandwich. A couple of days later I turned it into a main dish enhanced with shavings of Grana Padano. It even went great for dinner one night along side an Amy's Organic California-style garden burger. Like I said, this is a salad that is versatile. It goes just as fantastic with a vegetarian meal as it would with a smoky, juicy steak. It will also last for several days without turning into a soggy mess. And if your kids (or spouse) are currently afraid of brussels sprouts, this may be a salad to help hold their hand and ease them into a wonderful world they are definitely missing from their lives. You will make this again - maybe even crave it. I promise.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cabbage and Pine Nuts

Slightly modified from a recipe by Nicolas Jammet of Washington, DC's Sweetgreen - published in Food and Wine

Ingredients

• 1/2 c pine nuts
• 1 lb brussels sprouts, quartered
• 6 T extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 2 T honey
• 2 t Dijon mustard
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• 1/2 t chile powder
• 1 small head of red cabbage, very thinly sliced (~6 cups)
• 1/2 c dried cranberries
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450°. Spread the pine nuts in a pie plate and toast for about 3 minutes, until golden brown. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the brussels sprouts with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Roast for about 15 minutes, until the brussels sprouts are lightly caramelized and tender.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the honey, mustard, cayenne and chile powder. Slowly whisk in 1/4 cup of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, toss the cabbage with the toasted pine nuts and cranberries. In a small skillet, heat the remaining olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat until golden, about 1 minute. Scrape the garlic and hot oil over the cabbage. Add the brussels sprouts and toss, then add the dressing, toss again, and serve.

Food: Celery Root, Fennel, and Apple Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette and Hazelnuts

Hearty, crunchy, crisp, slightly sweet, nutty...all words to describe the fabulous salad I made last weekend. I was inspired by Molly's latest creation in Bon Appetit this past month. It sounded unique - besides the fact I had been curious about the ugly looking celery root in my grocery store the past few visits. I did modify the recipe, adding an extra apple (and changing from Gala to my favorite sweet-tart-crisp Pink Lady) and since I didn't have hazelnut oil or feel like driving to a specialty food store to get it, I decided to slightly modify the dressing and added roughly chopped hazelnuts in the salad. Actually I rather liked the crunch, texture and color the hazelnuts provided to the salad...I think the color may have been too monotone without them. It also would be pretty to sprinkle some chopped fennel tops over the dish.

Even though I made this salad on a cold winter day, I think it would be a great hearty salad in the summer since everything in it is cool and juicy. Actually it would make me feel pretty good to have this on a beach day where I wanted something cold, healthy, yet filling. (I'm especially thinking about this seeing all of the snow everyone's been getting over the past week).

Also, to you gardeners out there looking for something that keeps over the winter months (or people who are intrigued by something and end up buying things at the grocery store they don't use right away (myself included)), apparently celery root lasts for several months in the fridge or a cold cellar...so feel free to buy one to have on hand.

Celery Root, Fennel, and Apple Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette & Hazelnuts

Adapted from Bon Appetit (Molly Wizenberg) - February 2010

INGREDIENTS

Vinaigrette

• 2 T Dijon mustard
• 2 T fresh lemon juice
• 1 t garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 c olive oil

Salad

• 1 celery root, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips
• 1 fennel bulb, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
• 2 unpeeled Pink Lady apples, cored, cut into strips
• 1/3 c hazelnuts, roughly chopped

• Top with freshly shaved Parmesan cheese (MM Tip: Use a veggie peeler to get nice curls of parmesan)

DIRECTIONS

• For the vinaigrette, whisk together all of the ingredients except the oil in a small bowl. When those are mixed, slowly whisk in the olive oil.
• Combine all of the salad ingredients in one bowl. Toss with vinaigrette. Top with shaved parmesan.