Salad: It's What's for Dinner

Look at the carmelization on those brussels sprouts -- making them oh so sweet and delicious!

Today was exceptionally stressful at work, and I needed a dinner that was quick and refreshing because my commute home took nearly 2 hours and I was going to be late to my tap dance class. Salad fit the bill, so I decided to make one of my favorites which had the added benefit of further using up ingredients from my overstocked pantry.  As a perpetual dieter, I eat a lot of salads and they typically all have several basic components -- some type of lettuce, some type of nut, and some type of cheese.  To this base I usually add some additional fruits or vegetables and maybe an additional non-cheese protein source to achieve my desired flavor profile and suit my mood.


Salads can be really boring when you eat them all the time, so I like to mix up the components frequently, using a broad assortment of lettuces, nuts, and cheeses. At any given time I typically have three or four different varieties of greens handy and several choices of nuts and cheeses. Today, I had frisee, baby spinach, whole leaf spinach, and a perpetual supply of swiss chard from which to choose. I also had pumpkin seeds, cashews, walnuts, pecans and sesame seeds, and for the cheeses, I had a smoked English white cheddar, goat cheese, Irish Dubliner cheddar, and some fresh parmesan.

Too many vinegars -- another reason I needed to make salad today

I opted for the frisee because it's really crisp and also because I liked the color.  Food is all about looks, and the bright yellow-green color really appealed to me today. For the nut du jour, I selected pecans, and the cheese just had to be goat cheese.  I thought about coating it with herbed panko and baking it to make the classic French chevre chaud, but I was in too much of a hurry so I just crumbled it up instead.  For the dressing, I made a basic vinaigrette using some walnut oil, tarragon mustard and red wine vinegar that I had on hand.

Frisee and Brussels Sprouts Salad for Two

1/2 lb brussels sprouts
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt & pepper
1/2 head of frisee, broken into bite size pieces, washed and spun dry
1/2 cup whole pecans
1 Tbsp butter
sprinkle of garlic powder
4 oz goat cheese

Vinaigrette
1/4 c walnut oil
2 Tbsp high quality red wine vinegar
1 tsp tarragon mustard or dijon mustard
1 Tbsp minced shallot
1/8 tsp each salt & pepper

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper.  Wash and trim the brussels sprouts then cut them in half.  Toss in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, and pepper until coated then roast, cut side down, on a baking tray for about 15 minutes or until they are very well-carmelized on the bottom.

While the sprouts are roasting, cut the frisee into bite-sized pieces and wash and spin dry. Place in salad bowl.

In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add the pecans.  Sprinkle with a strong shake of garlic powder and then toast the nuts until they darken and release their aroma, taking care not to burn them.  Let them sit and cool a bit - they will crisp up after about 3-4 minutes.  Do not mix them into the salad until just before you serve, to maintain the crispiness.

To prepare the vinaigrette, mix all the ingredients together with an immersion blender or a whisk. You can substitute whatever oil you may have on hand as long as it's fresh and fragrant.  Same goes for the vinegar - white wine vinegar, herb-flavored (non-balsamic) vinegar, or champagne vinegar would also work nicely.  Mustard helps to emulsify the dressing but if you don't have dijon you can substitute other types. I used a tarragon mustard as part of my pantry purge initiative.

To assemble the salad, place all the salad ingredients except the cheese in a bowl and mix together. Drizzle with just enough dressing to lightly coat the lettuce.  You can always add more dressing once it's plated, but you can never subtract, so go easy to avoid a soggy mess. Toss the salad and place on a plate.  Add the crumbled goat cheese and serve along with a nice glass of  chardonnay or pinot noir.