Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

I'm trying to cut down on the starchy sides at dinner time. I wanted to try another way to eat brussels sprouts. I  been cooking with brussels sprouts in my brussels sprouts purée, and the crispy salad on top, made me think of making a salad.

Ingredients:

• 10-12 medium brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

• 1 shallot, thinly sliced

• 1 handful hazelnuts, toasted with honey

• 1-2 blood oranges

Dijon vinaigrette:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard

• blood orange juice (I squeezed the core after filleting it

• salt & pepper

Directions:

Dressing: Shake the ingredients in a mason jar, season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl toss brussels sprouts and shallot together with the dressing until everything is well-coated. Plate the salad and top with blood orange fillets and hazelnuts.

Kale Salad

Kale Salad

Kale has never been one of my favorites until I tried this salad. Kale is filled with vitamins A, C and K and calcium, so it's one of the healthiest things you can eat. Curly kale is fibrous and grassy tasting and it goes well with a creamy and lemony dressing, like the one I use here. The kales call for more dressing than a regular salad like iceberg or butter salad.

The dressing I use is a old-fasioned creamy dressing called mormordressing (grandmothers dressing) made with whipping cream, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper. My mom made another version of this dressing substituting the whipping cream with a fermented milk product called ymer, kinda like the Icelandic skyr, you can get in most supermarkets.

I love this Kale salad with different curries or with a nice pork chop. 

Ingredients:

Salad:

• 1 pound kale curly red or green

• 75 grapes

• 1-2 mango

• ½ cup (50 g) almonds, chopped

Dressing:

• ½ cup (1 dl) whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Dressing:

Mix the ingredients and add lemon or sugar to taste.

Salad:

Rinse and cut the ribs out of the kale leaves, and finely chop the leaves. Discard the ribs.

Rinse the grapes and cut them in halves. 

The mangos should be ripe and soft, so you can peel of the skin without using a knife. Peel mango and dice it. 

Mix it all in a large bowl with the dressing, so all the kale is covered in a thin layer of dressing.

Chop the almonds and sprinkle them on top of the salad. 

Enjoy.

Citrus Salad with Liquorice Vinaigrette

Citrus Salad with Liquorice Vinaigrette

I decided to make a new dish for the christmas dinner. I know that the Danes are really set the their ways, especially when it comes to their christmas dinner. But I love trying new things, so I hope my husband's family will love this citrus salad inspired from "Lakrids i Maden".

When I read that the salad called for a liquorice vinaigrette, my first thought was "how would the salty liquorice syrup taste with the dark espresso balsamic from The Olive bar?" I can only say "faaaantastic" - and on a slice of orange it tastes even better.

Here is my take on the citrus salad.

Ingredients:

Dressing:

• 1 tablespoon salty liquorice syrup
• 2 tablespoons dark espresso balsamic

Salad:

• 3 oranges
• 2 pink grapefruits
• 2 pink lemons
• Tunisian blood orange olive oil
• 1 handful Italian parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped

Directions:

Whisk the the liquorice syrup with the balsamic, set aside.

Peel oranges, lemons and grapefruits and slice them thinly. Arrange the slices in a platter and sprinkle with olive oil and salt.

Drizzle the dressing un top, and sprinkle with onion and parsley.

Red Cabbage Salad - Rødkålssalat

Red Cabbage Salad - Rødkålssalat

December 19. - Today I'm trying to get a healthier spin on the christmas dinner.

A couple years ago I wanted to bring something new to the christmas dinner. I made a salad with the red cabbage, oranges, grapes and walnuts, and it was so yummy. The salad brought a nice crunch to the otherwise soft christmas dinner. I love this salad so much I could eat it with any kind of meat. But it is simply perfect with the Danish meatloaf.

Ingredients

Salad

• ½ medium red cabbage
• 1 handful walnuts
• 3 oranges
• 2 handful green grapes

Dressing

• 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (blood orange)
• 2 teaspoons honey
• salt and pepper

Directions

Remove outer leaves of cabbage, and cut cabbage into quarters and remove the white core. Thinly slice the cabbage across the quarters width-wise. To get uniform slices I use a mandolin.

Fillet the oranges with a sharp knife. Cut the top and bottom off the orange. Set your knife where the white meets the flesh and start cutting downward in a curved motion following the shape of the orange. Keep doing this until you have peeled the oranges. Carefully cut the filets out. I do this over the cabbage, so I get all the juices into the salad. Wash and cut the grapes in half.

Mix the dressing.

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle the walnuts on top. Pour the dressing over and serve.

Gorgonzola & Pear Salad

Gorgonzola & Pear Salad

Yesterday I went to my local Olive Bar in downtown Campbell, to buy a good olive oil. And of cause it's impossible to only buy one single item in there. I came out with the most fantastic cinnamon and pear balsamic, and this is why we had to have this salad last night.

I love easy and simple salads, and this gorgonzola and pear salad is just that.

Ingredients

Salad

• 1 pear, ripe, but still crisp
• gorgonzola - as much as you like
• a handful mixed baby greens
• a few blackberries
• a sprinkle candied walnuts

Dressing

• half cinnamin pear balsamic
• half canola oil
• salt & pepper

Directions

Mix up the dressing.

Toss the salad with the rest of the dressing.

Crumble the gorgonzola, and slice the pear in thin slices.

Place the salad on a plate, arrange the pear, gorgonzola, blackberries and walnuts around the salad.