#09: Kale Salad with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Lemony Tahini
Che Apalache and a postage stamp, but big
nothing helps you get a hang of a new oven quite like throwing yourself headlong into roasting something in it. this past week, in humming along and roasting brussels sprouts, i learned that my newest oven companion is very powerful. luckily, the threshold of burnt and too-burnt is a good one for brussels (and cauliflower and broccoli, for that matter) to straddle. therefore, consider, along with all the ovens you've ever known and will —in airbnbs, new homes, broken leases, and beach rentals — the barometer of the brussel sprout.
this recipe isn't just about oven strength. it's also about kale, another friendly member of the cabbage family.
kale salad with roasted brussels, mushrooms & lemony tahini
much like you and i, kale is a lot nicer after it has gotten a nice massage — it'll also be much easier on your belly and your fork. with creamy tahini, roasted veggies, and mushrooms fresh & roasted, it's an innocent-looking salad that packs a lot of umami heat.
you'll need
1 head of lacinato kale
mushrooms (shitake, cremini, or any mushroom, really. hen-of-the-woods, which is somehow musty, nutty, and cutting, is my favorite (see gnarly image below.) according to an old japanese legend, a group of buddhist monks and woodcutters met at the base of a mountain to discover a huge growth of maitake or "hen-of-the-woods" mushrooms and danced to celebrate. a quick search of this mushroom on the internet yields a handful of delightful photos of foragers clutching or tenderly presenting their prize.)
about 2 cups of brussels sprouts, sliced top to bottom
1 bunch of radishes
1 shallot
pumpkin seeds, roasted, unsalted
flaky salt
cracked black pepper
for dressing:
3 heaping tbsp tahini
1 tsp honey
1-2 tbsp cold water
2 cloves of garlic (roasted with the brussels sprouts)
1/2 lemon (for juicing & zest)
on you go
wash & let lacinato kale dry. you can be rough with it. sometimes i like half-flinging/half-dangling the kale above the sink to let the water shake off. another good way to encourage kale (or any leaf) to dry is to drape an absorbent towel over your drying rack (or the top rack of your dishwasher, if you don't have a drying rack) and let it hang out on top, sort of suspended in air. less pooling.
while kale is drying, soak and rinse your radishes (you get rid of lots of dirt this way, and it's so satisfying to see!) give your mushrooms a quick rinse, but not for too long (an un-soggy mushroom is worth a fleck of dirt or two.) rinse the brussels sprouts, shake dry, and slice them top to bottom. (i don't worry so much about drying them, because whatever water is leftover will evaporate and steam them a very tiny bit.) place on a pan with mushrooms (reserving some, if you'd like to incorporate the fresh taste later on) and two cloves of garlic. drizzle olive oil, shake salt and black pepper overtop, and toss with your hands like in those godforsaken bon appetit videos (:07-:15). roast at 400 degrees (or so) for thirty minutes (or so) tossing to rearrange every 10 minutes (or so).
when kale is dry and while brussels & mushrooms are roasting, strip the kale leaves from the stems by running your hand from the base of the stem and out. you may have to use your fingernails to pry the leaf from the stem initially, but once you do, the leaf should slide off rather quickly. this is the fun part: once you've separated from the stem, massage the kale leaves with your hands, like you're kneading dough — for about 20 seconds or simply until it appears more pleasant to eat raw (it'll be a darker green and noticeably more soft to the touch.) arrange in a mound on a cutting board and slice into strips. slice shallot thinly and toss with the kale and radishes in a bowl. (you can slice your radishes thin, but i like to leave mine whole when i know extra salad will be in the fridge overnight, so they don't get sad and dry.) add mushrooms (fresh & roasted) and brussels sprouts when they're ready, as well as pumpkin seeds, black pepper, and a light sprinkle of salt.
dressing:
slip the roasted garlic out of it's shell, and press with your knife into paste. whisk garlic together with tahini, honey, a squeeze or two of lemon and a splash of water to your desired acidity and consistency.
your workhorses
roasted garlic, whole | whenever you're roasting something, throw in a few cloves of garlic. when whatever you're roasting is ready, you'll have everything you need for garlic paste (just slip it out of its skin with the heel of a knife). with this particular recipe, it fits very nicely into a creamy tahini dressing, but you can also store it for months in a jar in the fridge. it's yummy on pizza and warm bread.
lacinato kale | it'll eventually wilt, but that's ok. once on a day when i should have gone to the grocery store yesterday (you know the feeling), wherein i found myself alone with only a red bell pepper and an ancient yellow onion to my name, i sauteed it all together and put it over oatmeal with a fried egg. it was so good that i've recreated it a number of times.
soundbites
appetizer: soundcloud
dessert: spotify
piece of power
"To me, a poster is really nothing more than a postage stamp, except big."
- Stephen Frykholm, Herman Miller's first in-house graphic designer, on his assignments to promote the company's annual picnic — and the power of the poster.