Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Kale Salad with a Lemony Dijon Vinaigrette

I've been eyeing this Shredded Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon Dressing recipe from Just A Taste for awhile now.  But every time we get Brussels sprouts in the Crop Share, I'm completely incapable of not roasting them or turning them into this Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms in a Dijon Cream Sauce dish.  However, this week I vowed to finally make my own version of Just A Taste's salad, and I knew if I was going to get the Mister behind a giant bowl of green for dinner, I was going to have to put some meat in there somewhere, especially since there would also be no carb coming along with it either.  So while the original is completely vegetarian, I tossed in one shredded chicken breast from yet another rotisserie chicken I'm slowly dismembering as the week goes on.  I also didn't go based on her measurements, I just went based on quantities in our shares, so I doubled the dressing recipe as the original measurements were looking pretty slim for the amount of roughage I had going on.  She also had Parmesan or Pecorino cheese in her's, but we didn't miss it and with the almonds you already get that nutty flavor and by adding Kosher salt to the dressing, that checks the salty component box.  So feel free to add cheese if you'd like, just maybe back down on the amount of salt in the dressing or omit it all together.

Not going to lie, this is one of those annoyingly prep intensive dishes, so if you're looking for a quick weeknight dinner salad, this might not be a good option as thinly slicing your way through all that green becomes soul killing unless you've got some good tunes blaring in your kitchen.  However, thanks to this recipe, you will gain two, count them two, gold stars on your culinary skills charts:  Chiffonade & Emulsion.  Yep, we're getting fancy in Nalls' Kitchen tonight!

Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Kale Salad with a Lemony Dijon Vinaigrette

For salad:

1 quart Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed & shredded
1 bundle Kale, removed from stalk & shredded
1/2 cup sliced, unsalted almonds, toasted
1 chicken breast, cooked & shredded (I dismembered a rotisserie chicken)


For dressing:

1 large shallot, minced
4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
4 tsp local honey
2 lemons, zest & juice
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil


In a medium-sized skillet, toast almond slices over medium high heat.  No need to add any oil as the natural oils in the almonds will be enough.  Stir fairy continuously to prevent burning.  Once almond are golden brown, remove from heat and set aside.

To shred Brussels sprouts, trim ends, and remove outer few leaves.  Then halve sprouts and thinly slice each half.  For kale, remove from the stalk and roll leaves into bundles and prepare to chiffonade.  Say what?  Yes, get ready to perfect your fancy knife skills -- and no you don't have to be totally accurate with these, you just want to have thin slices of kale for the salad.  Have no idea what I'm on about, then learn how to get  your chiffonade on in this helpful video...

Now toss together your kale, Brussels sprouts, toasted almond and shredded chicken together in a large bowl.   I weeded out any bits of the core of the sprouts  that still remained as chunks.

Grab a medium sized bowel and whip up the dressing.  Combine all ingredients through the salt and lightly whisk to fully combine.  Then slowly pour in olive oil while you whisk vigorously because you're doing another fancy thing, you're making an...emulsion!  Ooo la la!  First you chiffonade then you, well, emulse?  Emulsionize?  No, I've got it, you emulsionate!  Once all your oil is incorporated you should have a dressing that looks very much like a big bowl of whisked egg yolks.  Pour as much or as little over the salad and toss to coat.

Let sit for about 5 minutes to allow flavors to meld and serve.

Vietnamese Beef Salad

There were just a few carrots in the Crop Share this week, and by a few I mean a ton.  And while I thought about a carrot soup, it was too cold and snowy yesterday after all of the beautiful Spring weather, so I had to just delude myself a little longer and make something bright and fresh that made me think of the warmer temps to come.  If you'll remember, a few weeks back when we got cabbage I did my own Vietnamese twist on TaKorean "takos".  So last night I just left out the arepas all together, tweaked a few of the ingredients, and made up some delicious Vietnamese Beef Salads.  If you're looking to make a dent in your carrot supply and ignore the continued snow, these salads are where it's at!

Vietnamese Beef Salad

For the pickled slaw:

1 cup water

½ cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ cabbage, cored & thin sliced

1 cup cilantro, minced

4 carrots, peeled and shredded

For the spicy garlic beef: 

1/2 cup soy sauce (I use Kikkoman's gluten-free soy sauce)

2 Tbsp Sriracha (use only 1 Tbsp for a lower heat version)

3 Tbsp local honey

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

1.5 lbs thin sliced ribeye (if you really want the perfect cut for this or for making bulgogi hit up a local H Mart, it's worth the extra trip -- alas, I did not have the time to make the extra trip)

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1" knob of ginger, minced

Make your slaw a day in advance if possible, if not, just allow yourself at least an hour for the flavors to meld and begin to pickle the veggies.  In a small saucepan, heat the water, vinegar and sugar until the sugar is fully dissolved.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Prep your cabbage, cilantro and carrots and then toss into a bowl.  Pour the liquid over and toss to fully combine.  Cover bowl and place in fridge for at least 1 hour up to 24 hrs (the longer it sits the better).

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your soy sauce, Sriracha, honey and garlic, till fully combined.  Then add in your sliced ribeye and toss to coat.  Cover and place in fridge to marinate for at least 1 hour.

In a large skillet, heat your sesame oil over high heat, but take care to not allow it to burn.  Once you start to see little bubbles in the oil, toss in your minced ginger and cook for no longer than 1 minute.  Pour in your beef, marinade and all, and toss with tongs to cook.  Cook beef on high heat until you can no longer see pink on the meat, and no longer otherwise you're going to have chewy bits of beef.  Remove cooked beef from skillet and set aside on a plate.   Continue to simmer down remaining marinade in the skillet until it's turned into a thicker, sticky sauce.  Remove from heat and add beef and any drippings back to pan, tossing to fully coat the beef.

To assemble, place a mound of the slaw on each plate and top with some beef.  Drizzle any of the pan sauce over top if you'd like and serve.  You can also cook up a cup of rice if you feel like you need a starch with this too.

My Crop Share Challenge: Stewed Collards with Apples

So a little late on last week's Crop Share Challenge, but ah well.  The two random items from last week's share I chose to pair together were collard greens and fuji apples.  In theory, this should work, but will the bitterness of the greens over power the apples?  Will it turn out too sweet for a side dish?  Will my insistence on adding garlic to every blessed dish be a very bad idea here?  Let's find out!

Stewed Collards with Apples

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small bundle collards, removed from stem and shredded into more manageable bits
2 Fuji apples, peeled, cored and diced into 1/2" cubes
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
Pinch of Kosher salt
2 cups water

In a medium sized skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add in garlic and apples and saute until the apples just barely start to golden, about 2-3 minutes.  Add in collards and wilt completely down.  Season with red pepper flakes and salt, and cook for an additional minute.  Add in water and allow to come up to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes.

After about 25 minutes, all of the liquid should be gone.  I thought about pulling it from the heat, but apparently the food sadist in me felt that 5 more minutes was what this dish needed.  So I let it brown up for the additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to brown everything evenly and prevent burning.  Once you hit minute 30, pull from heat and serve.

Results...

Oh goodness me the results have rendered my newest collards obsession.  Yes, even better than the Collard Greens Pesto from the other night.  I ate the entire thing myself, which if I'm going to spoil my dinner, might as well be with something like this.  But it would make a fantastic side to a roast pork tenderloin, or oooo roasted duck breast.  Or snag some chicken sausage and sear those up to serve with this for that whole apples & sausage thing.  Am I the only one that thinks any form of sausage should be served with apples or some sort of fruity sweet thing?  This is what happens when your parents let you dip your sausage links into grape jelly as a kid.  Mama & Da, you rock!  So yes, for those of you that are like ewww I hate collards, they're so bitter.  Chuck some apples at those greens and trust me you will fall in love.

Move over kale...collard greens are the new green kid in town!

Stay tuned for this week's Crop Share Challenge because I've decided to pair the beets with the blood oranges!  Both look like a homicide on your cutting board, so why not?!

Bayou-ish Jambalaya with Blackened Cauliflower

The awesome folks at Dizzy Pig are getting ready to release a new seasoning called Bayou-ish, so they sent out some samples to vendors to test out.  Well, one of the Nalls' samples trickled its way down to me so last night I gave it a whirl.  Now when I see "bayou" anything I want andouille sausage and shrimp.  Basically, I want jambalaya.  But we didn't exactly get the traditional jambalaya veggies in the Crop Share this week, so I cheated a bit.  So yes, before Emeril or any other Cajuns out there come after me with pitchforks, I do realize that "the trinity" is completely absent from my jambalaya and I may be committing a mortal sin by even calling this dish "jambalaya."  But, I try to work pretty close with in the parameters of what we get each week so that I or any of you don't have to go out and buy 50 other items of produce.  So please forgive me and I trust if one of you glorious Cajun's ever devise gluten free beignets you will not withhold the majesty from me.

Now a little bit about this Bayou-ish seasoning.  It's intended to withstand high heat, so if you're a fan of blackening fish or chicken, this is the way to go.  If I knew I wouldn't kill the Mister and myself with the smell I would have mixed this up with some gluten & dairy free breadcrumbs, breaded up some catfish and seared the heck out of it.  So instead, I went with my cheaters jambalaya and to roll in the Crop Share I did blacken up something, the one item I can only stand if it's cooked into submission...cauliflower.  I roasted that stuff in some Bayou-ish and olive oil at 430 degrees until it started to char, and that is the point in which I can consume cauliflower and not want to spit it out.  The roasted cauliflower really gives a nice hint of nutty sweetness to the jambalaya, and I had enough in my sample to use half of it on the cauliflower and the other half in the base sauce for the jambalaya.  So once they release this flavor, you'll be able to make this entire dish from one sample pack.  Problem is, then you're out, and I'm already dreaming up some Bayou-ish spiced shrimp po'boys with a vegan remoulade mixed with some more of the Bayou-ish.  Also, their seasonings are lower in sodium than most other seasoning mixes, but you don't feel like you're missing anything.  All I did was throw in a dash of salt at the very end and that was the only other additional seasoning I needed to add!

So what do you do in the meantime if you want to make this dish?  Grab yourself any all-purpose Creole seasoning from the store and give it a go.

Bayou-ish Jambalaya with Blackened Cauliflower

For the blackened cauliflower:
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp Dizzy Pig Bayou-ish seasoning

For the jambalaya base:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 sweet onion, chopped
12 oz andouille sausage, sliced on the bias
1 lb shrimp
6 oz tomato paste
2 tsp Dizzy Pig Bayou-ish seasoning
2 cups water
2 cups rice, just undercooked
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
Pinch of Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 430 degrees.  Toss cauliflower in olive oil and Bayou-ish, and spread evenly in a baking dish.  Bake for 30-45 minutes until it has started to char a bit.

While the cauliflower is roasting, prepare 2 cups of rice according to package directions and remove from heat just a few minutes early to leave it slightly undercooked as you're going to finish it in with the rest of the ingredients.

In a large saute pan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat.  Add in garlic and onion and saute until the onion is translucent, about 2-3 minutes.  Toss in sausage and cook until slightly browned.  Add shrimp and cook for an additional minute.  Stir in tomato paste and Bayou-ish seasoning until well blended and cook for 2 minutes until you start to get a bit of a char on the bottom of the pan.  Deglaze with 1 cup of water, scraping all the bits off the bottom and then add the second cup of water.  Bring to a simmer and add the rice, folding in to fully incorporate.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.

When cauliflower is done, add that along with any of the pan drippings to the jambalaya.  Stir to fully mix, and add lemon juice, parsley and a pinch of Kosher salt.  Now I like to get a bit of a crust on the bottom, so for this you'll want to kick the heat back up to medium high for about 3-5 minutes and just take care to not completely burn the bottom of the jambalaya, you want a nice golden brown crust.  Or just leave on medium low heat and let the flavors set up for that remaining 3-5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand for at least 3 minutes before serving.