COLUMN: Discover a warm winter salad
Around this time, every year, I start to realize how few fruits and vegetables I actually eat every day. It’s not very many. Some days it’s none. Yikes. When that happens, I try to do better, but in the middle of winter and with a college student’s time and budget restraints, it can be really hard. This is why I’ve been loving the idea of warm winter salads this year. I know warm and salad don’t usually go together in a sentence, but maybe we are just a little too strict about our definition of a salad. Technically, it’s just any mixture or assortment of food served together, usually with a dressing. I have two delicious recipes that meet the criteria and will help you find ways to use the few vegetables that are in season right now. Not only do these recipes give you healthy ways to eat vegetables, they’re both simple to prepare and don’t require expensive or long ingredient lists. Also, feel free to get creative and add more ingredients. Both of these salad recipes can be served as side dishes or made into a light dinner served with bread.
SAUTEED BRUSSELS SPROUTS SALAD WITH GOLD POTATOES, HAZELNUTS AND MAPLE SYRUP
12 Brussels sprouts (about 8 ounces)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3-4 medium-sized Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed
Salt and pepper, to taste
¼ cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
Chop the potatoes (with the peels still on them) into tiny pieces. Toss the chopped potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and a few dashes of salt and pepper.
Spread them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 450 F, until they are soft all the way through, 10-20 minutes (time will vary depending on their size, so keep an eye on them).
While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the Brussels sprouts. Remove the outer leaves and cut the bottom stems off each sprout. Wash and dry them well. Use a sharp knife, food processor, box grater or mandolin to shred the Brussels sprouts finely. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and add the shredded Brussels sprouts. Sauté, stirring often, until they are crisp-tender (meaning they are soft but still have some crunch left in them).
Remove the sprouts from the heat and stir in the apple cider vinegar and maple syrup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Just before serving, stir in the hazelnuts. Top each serving with a large scoop of the roasted potatoes.
You can also add a handful of dried cranberries to this salad with the hazelnuts. The warm pan will help them plump up a little, and then you’ll be getting a serving of fruit, too. You have to admit, that’s pretty impressive.
(Note: if you combine all the ingredients to serve, the nuts and potatoes may get soggy, so you can leave them out and add them to each serving to avoid this.)
CARROT, DILL AND WHITE BEAN SALAD WITH ALMONDS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 pinch of salt
¼ cup chopped red onion
5-6 medium-sized carrots, peeled and sliced to equal about 2 cups
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon dill
1 ½ tablespoons honey
1/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted
Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and red onion in a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots and saute, stirring often, until crisp-tender and just starting to lightly brown.
Add the beans and dill and cook for 5 more minutes.
Remove the carrots from the heat and place them in a mixing bowl. Drizzle the honey and prepared olive oil dressing over the carrots, and toss until evenly coated. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
Serve sprinkled with toasted almonds.
– Jennelle Clark is a senior psychology major who writes the online food blog foodislikeart.blogspot.com. She loves making, eating and sharing her food. Send comments to jenn.wilson@aggiemail.usu.edu