Winter Crunch Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Tossed in a lip-smacking apple cider vinaigrette, this revitalizing salad will have you craving winter produce like never before.
Servings: 4 people
Equipment
- High-Powered Blender
- Mandolin (optional)
Ingredients
Winter Crunch Salad.
- 5 cups roughly chopped kale, ribs discarded
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- Pinch of kosher or sea salt
- 6 large Brussels sprouts, shaved
- 1 apple, thinly sliced I like using honeycrisp or gala
- 2 cups ribboned/julienned radicchio
- 2 TBSP toasted sunflower seeds
- 2 TBSP pomegranate arils (optional)
- 2 TBSP dried cranberries
Apple Cider Vinaigrette.
- 1 small shallot (or one lobe of a large shallot), diced
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 2 tsp stone ground mustard or Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp real maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Winter Crunch Salad.
- Remove any tough ribs from your kale and roughly chop leaves; rinse under cool water and pat dry with a paper towel or shake well in the strainer. Place the kale into a large serving bowl.
- Drizzle 1 tsp of extra virgin olive oil over the kale; add a pinch of salt. Gently massage the oil and salt into the leaves of the kale for about 2-3 minutes or until the kale seems tender. This is an important step, otherwise the kale will have a rough mouthfeel and will be generally just... yucky.
- Once the kale is tender, add the shaved Brussels sprouts, apple slices, julienned radicchio, toasted sunflower seeds, pomegranate arils, and dried cranberries to the bowl. Give the salad a toss to distribute the ingredients throughout.
- Serve the salad with a side of the apple cider vinegar for drizzling. Don't drizzle the vinaigrette over the entire salad if you think you might have leftovers. The leftovers will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days without getting soggy, as long as they aren't dressed with the vinaigrette.
Optional cheese additions.
- If you want to add cheese, crumble some feta or goat over your salad. These cheese go great with these flavors.
Apple Cider Vinaigrette.
- Place all of the ingredients except the olive oil into the blender. Start to blend the ingredients and, while blending, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture bit by bit. Taste, and season with more salt and pepper if needed (though it should be fine as is).
Notes
The salad should keep in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2-3 days, as long as you don't drizzle the vinaigrette over the entire salad. Save the vinaigrette for individual portions.
The vinaigrette will keep in the fridge for a week, maybe longer, in a sealed container.