We love creating our own recipes. We also love trying recipes others have created and sharing those with you. This is one of our recipe reviews where we test out a recipe we thought sounded good and rate it on some important characteristics. We focus on recipes that make you feel good and are good for you, though sometimes we’ll share recipes that are a bit more indulgent for when you need a special treat in the form of dinner or dessert. We’ll suggest ideas for how to make a recipe a healthier, easier or making substitutions for when you may not have a required ingredient on hand. Also, you should know that we only share recipes we like and would eat again. If a recipe didn’t pass our taste tests, we won’t share it with you.
RATINGS:
- Simplicity of Ingredients (based on number of required ingredients and likelihood of having those ingredients on hand or ease of obtaining them): 3/4
- Simplicity Level (based on number of steps and ease of completing them): 3/4
- Ready in 30 Minutes or Less: If you have a food processor or veggie chopping device, yes. If you’re chopping by hand, probably not.
Hello there! This is Irene and today I want to share a nourishing and delicious salad recipe for you to try. I made this on a Sunday afternoon – I admit, it took a little time to prep, but it’s like the gift that keeps on giving – and after a little bit of time chopping and slicing, I was able to open up the refrigerator for the rest of the week, and not do a simple thing other than to put the salad in a bowl and eat it with dinner! Yum!! Check veggies off my list! Now that’s a huge time-saving benefit and a great way to stick to my plan of eating healthy and delicious food on busy weeknights. It’s a tried and true recipe and I’ve been making it since 2013. Back then I had a skiing accident which resulted in surgery and laying flat on my back for seven weeks. My friends/clients came to visit and brought me this amazing salad. What a fantastic way to nourish my body and show it love. Thanks to my friends who nurtured me with it. It holds a special place in my heart. So, I’ve continued to use this recipe over the years. I hope you try it and feel as nourished and loved as I do when I eat it and share it with my family. You can find the recipe here.
This particular recipe requires the following ingredients (I’ve provided GLA-suggested substitutions or notes in italics):
- Tuscan Kale – I used two large bunches this time, but when I don’t want quite as much salad, I will just do one bunch. I included a picture of the center stem being discarded. To slice it thin, just bunch it all together and carefully hold it with one hand, while you do thin slices with the other hand. There is something to be said about slicing up veggies. It’s an in-the-moment thing and can be quite therapeutic. 🙂
- Brussels Sprouts – the recipe calls to chop it or shred it finely with a knife. I found that I can get great results with my Presto salad shooter. I cut the sprouts in half and shred away. If I want it more finely shredded, I’ll run it through a second time. It’s up to you, slicing is good, too and again those therapeutic present moments are a good thing!
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil – one of the beauties of taking a recipe and making it your own is that you can improvise. The recipe suggests you divide the olive oil, using one portion to toast the almonds. I skipped this step and also didn’t use almonds. I took pistachios from my big bag from Costco, shelled them and used those “as is.” One step saved and I actually prefer the pistachios!
- Fresh Lemon Juice – fresh lemon juice always is so good. Keep lemons on hand regularly, I say!
- Dijon Mustard – I would guess you could use regular mustard as well, but Dijon has a stronger flavor and you can use it in a lot of other recipes so it’s good to have on hand.
- Minced shallot – I happened to have a shallot on hand, but if I didn’t, I’d use diced red or yellow onion.
- Garlic clove – You could always use garlic powder or flakes and it would still be delicious. BUT, there’s just something about fresh garlic and it’s so good for you! It’s worth the effort to buy some cloves and use them in your cooking.
- Kosher salt – I use the salt I have on hand. Sometimes it’s the pink Himalaya salt, sometimes it’s Celtic salt, which I just learned has many great minerals and nutrients in it.
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Almonds with skins – as I mentioned earlier, I used pistachio nuts because I didn’t have almonds. Be creative and use what you have. Walnuts, macadamia nuts, or any other nut would be delicious. Experiment and see what you like!
- Pecorino cheese – the interesting thing is, I’ve never used Pecorino Romano. I’ve always used Parmigiano Reggiano – I grated my own Parmigiano Reggiano because I had a chunk in my fridge from Whole Foods. I’ve also used Kirkland Parmigiano Reggiano from Costco and it’s also delicious. Sometime I will have to try pecorino! That’s the beauty of making your own, you can tweak with what you have. I guarantee, the Parmigiano option is delicious! Use that creativity again!!
I like to set aside the nuts and add them fresh to my salad right before I eat it. It’s a personal preference for me, but I like my nuts crunchy. Towards the end of the week, I decided I wanted to change up the flavors a bit, so I bought some dried cranberries on my last grocery trip and added those to the mix. Delicious! Next time, I’m thinking I will add in some chopped apples. I bet that will be so good! This is a great recipe to have in your repertoire – you can follow the directions exactly and it will be amazing or you can do as I do and change it up as your tastes dictate. Variety is the spice of life!
ACCESS THE RECIPE FROM EPICURIOUS, HERE.
Enjoy!
Irene
Ingredients 
Shredding the Brussels sprouts (the kale was de-stemmed and chopped with a knife) 
Making the vinaigrette 
Combining the veggie mix, vinaigrette and cheese 
Adding the nuts (at time of eating) 
Enjoy!
