November 7, 2023

Brassica Salad with Apple and Hazelnut

Brassica Salad with Apple and Hazelnut is hearty yet light, fresh yet seasonal. It’s the perfect salad to cut through the richness of the Thanksgiving meal while still complimenting it.

Wait, What’s a Brassica?

Brassica is a genus of plants that includes many cruciferous vegetables, including but not limited to cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, kale, brussel sprouts, and mustard. Since they all belong to the same family, they tend to pair really well with each other. These hardy vegetables thrive in cold climates and continue growing even in chilly weather, which is why they are closely associated with winter menus.

Thought Process

I thought they would make an excellent salad because I wanted something seasonal, light, and fresh that would harmonize with the rest of the Thanksgiving meal. The inspiration for the dressing came from a classic honey mustard dressing, as mustard is a member of the brassica family. However, I felt that maple syrup would provide more of an American/Thanksgiving flavor.

Vibin’

Salads are at their best when you go with the vibes. If you’d like more kale or hazelnuts in the salad, go for it! Want to swap out the broccoli for cauliflower? I’m sure that would be delicious. This is definitely a recipe where you can take liberties. At the end of the day, it’s a salad. It’ll turn out fine, I promise.

Brassica Salad with Apple and Hazelnut is all about the good vibes. Feel free to customize it to suit your preferences!

(and brassicas)

Print Recipe

Brassica Salad with Apple and Hazelnut

Ingredients

Salad

6 leaves of kale
3 handfuls brussels sprouts
1 head of broccoli
1-2 apples
1 kohlrabi
20 g toasted hazelnuts

Hazelnut Dressing

50 g toasted hazelnuts
50 g extra virgin olive oil
5 g soy sauce
20 g lemon juice
20 g maple syrup
10 g dijon
20 g water
20 g whole grain mustard
Salt to taste

Instructions

Prepare the Hazelnut Dressing:

Using a stick blender, combine the hazelnuts and extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and blend until the mixture is smooth-ish.
Add the soy sauce, lemon juice, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard.
Blitz the ingredients together until well combined.
Add the water to the dressing in the blender and blend again.
Stir (don’t blitz!) in the whole grain mustard to finish the dressing.
Season to taste with salt

Making the Salad

Chop the kale into small pieces.
Steam or boil the broccoli until just al dente and still green. Let cool.
Peel and dice the apple. Pour over a bit of lemon juice or vinegar and stir so it doesn’t brown.
Peel and dice the kohlrabi.
Shave the brussel sprouts on a mandolin. Alternatively slice very very thin.
Roughly chop the hazelnuts.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped kale, shaved sprouts, cooled-down broccoli, diced apple, diced kohlrabi.
Drizzle the hazelnut dressing over the salad and mix together until everything is well coated.