Shredded Brussels Sprouts and Potato Salad

A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.

Please meet my new favorite way to prepare Brussels sprouts: shredded. What a delightfully easy way to make a very healthy salad, using something other than your standard issue salad greens.

I first came across this method in the Bi-Rite Market's Eat Good Food cookbook. Their version (which I made and wrote about here) includes bacon. Which, in so many ways, makes me so happy. But, I've found that I need to cut back on the pork products (oh wait, I have a rack of pork ribs in the oven right now....). Therefore, I've created a new recipe using the shredded Brussels sprouts in not only a vegetarian recipe, but also a vegan one. A girl's got to keep her sleek physique and all of the lovely recipes I've been writing have begun to add up on the I-think-my-pants-shrunk-in-the-dryer meter.

The potatoes are the only cooked item in the whole shebang. You can either roast them, dice them or fry them, just do whatever you prefer. And, I didn't include how many this recipe feeds. Seems that the shredded sprouts really go on for days. I've taken to shredding a while bunch of them and storing them in a zipper bag in the fridge. That way I can make any kind of salad I want whenever I want to.

Please do make this or the other recipe referenced above. It really tastes great and is a nice change in your salad repertoire.

Brussels Sprouts and Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 to 2 cups shredded Brussels sprouts
  • 2 cups potatoes in 3/4 inch dice, steamed, roasted, sautéed, or boiled until tender but not mushy
  • 1 /2 cup fresh chopped carrots
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine or sherry vinegar
  • 1 clove garlic, minced finely
  • ½ teaspoon minced tarragon
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION

  • Shred the Brussels sprouts.  You can use either a mandolin slicer or the slicer blade on your food processor. And, cutting them by hand is perfectly fine, just make them as thin as possible.
  • Place the shredded Brussels sprouts, diced and cooked potatoes and carrots in a large bowl.
  • Mix together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, sage, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper.
  • Add the dressing to the vegetables and mix well.

Kale. Who Knew It Could Be This Easy?

Spring is here. At least in SF. It's got to be close to 70 degrees here with lovely clear, blue skies. A perfect day for a walk over to our local farmer's market.

There was a nice kale salad in our lunch this past week, so I decided to try my hand at cooking some. I've used kale in soups before, but never any other way.

Many varieties of kale showed up this week at the farmer's market. I got some and then stared it in on my kitchen counter for a good long time. I realized that I had no idea what to do with it. Since it seems very fibrous, braising seemed like a good idea. Then I remembered how we always cooked sausages in boiling red wine before putting them into the tomato sauce when I was growing up. Maybe red wine was the way to go.

It most certainly is the way to go with kale. I don't know if there are purists out there who have a particular right way to cook these hearty leaves, but I recommend that you give the red wine a try.

Once I had the kale cooked down, I thought I'd try two different final dishes with it. I served it alongside boiled potatoes straight from the pan with some of the braising liquid and garlic.

And, I made a pesto-style preparation, by pureeing the cooked kale, garlic and braising liquid in the food processor. Both were good, but I preferred the pesto-style, since I'd never tasted kale this way before.

Red Wine-Braised Kale with Boiled Potatoes

  • 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
  • 1 cup Red Wine
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled
  1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
  2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
  3. Add the oil and water.
  4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
  5. Turn the heat back to high.
  6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
  7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
  8. Serve over the boiled potatoes, being sure to scoop up some of the cooking liquid to pour over the potatoes.

Red Wine-Braised Kale Pesto with Boiled Potatoes

  • 1 bunch Kale (or Hearty Greens)
  • 1 cup Red Wine
  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 3 cloves Garlic, whole, skin removed
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 3 cups Potatoes, cubed and boiled
  1. Wash Kale thoroughly in cool running water.
  2. Set a large skillet over a burner turned to high-heat.
  3. Add the oil and water.
  4. Turn off the heat and add the wine.
  5. Turn the heat back to high.
  6. Add the Kale and garlic. It will run over the side of the pan at first. It shrinks to less than half it's original volume once it is cooked down.
  7. Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, until leaves are tender.
  8. Put the cooked Kale and its cooking liquid into a food processor.
  9. Process until all leaves and stems have been chopped up and incorporated into a mixture.
  10. Serve over the boiled potatoes.

A version of this recipe is featured on The Fruit Guys website.

Simply Baked Potatoes

Do you love a good baked potato as much as I do?

I noticed that I rarely make them at home these days. Ordering them in a restaurant is out of the question: they always show up soggy and over cooked. But, they are quite easy to make and reheating them is a snap as well.

A good baked potato can really start your day out well. During High School my Dad (Joe, remember him?) used to give me a baked potato for breakfast on occasion. It was a great, warm breakfast with plenty of butter and I recall it keeping me good and full for the morning.

There were some very nice small russet potatoes available at the market this past weekend. I bought a bunch and cooked them up and cooked them in the evening.

The next morning, I reheated them for a few seconds in the microwave and we enjoyed a lovely breakfast. For myself, I put anchovy butter (recipe here) on one and onion and shallot marmalade (recipe here) on the other. For Ms. Iz (my daughter) I just put plain old butter on the baked potato.

The best breakfast ever! Just as I recalled, it lasted all day and I was happy to pass along a nice breakfast memory from my childhood to my daughter.

Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Scrub potatoes under cool water.
  • Cut an X into each potato, not all the way through, to allow the steam to escape as the potatoes cook.
  • Place the potatoes in the hot oven.
  • Cook for about 1 hour, or until the potatoes are soft enough to give a little when pressed with your thumb.
  • Remove from the oven, pop one open, top with your topping of choice and enjoy!