Brussels Sprout Salad with Pecans, Cherries, Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette, and Smoked Gouda
go vote and then give your heart a break
things you’ll need: brussels sprouts (would also work with kale), pecans, dried cherries or cranberries or other sweet pop of fruit, lemon, dijon (or other fancy mustard like the jar of caramelized onion dijon that I picked up), shallot, olive oil, maple syrup (optional), salt, pepper, and smoked gouda (have used blue cheese too, but any bold and creamy cheese should work well).
I made this salad 100,000 million times and I can’t believe that I have never written it up for you. If measurements make you more confident, you can find them here on America’s Test Kitchen (paywall) and here on Food.com (no paywall, same recipe). I don’t use garlic, but you can, and I usually add a touch of maple syrup or honey.
incidentally gluten-free and vegetarian, add a little smoked paprika and leave out the cheese for vegan.
Chapter 241
It’s voting day and you never know what to expect anymore (if you ever did). You carry your hope packed tight with bubble wrap and razor wire. Your expectations are low and your fear is twisted around your resignation or rage or whatever feeling you use to protect that tender hope against the horrors of Now and Then and what seems like Always.
The world continues to test the strength of your beating heart. Sometimes it fills you with a longing that stretches your chambers to bursting. Sometimes it snatches all the air and you have to turn the bass all the way up for your heart to keep time with whichever song reminds your muscle and blood to pound. You persist.
Occasionally the world offers you a gift, wrapped in the shape of a friend, a beloved, a kindness, or the fruit of your mighty capacity. Maybe someone you love took you to a room filled with junk, handed you a bat and safety gear, and told you to let loose the full range of your body’s might for the express purpose of destroying. Maybe you emerged sore and sweaty, your pupils full of joy from letting the rage in your body be magnificent.
Maybe you found some other kind of holy to carry you through as the light begins to fade from the days. Maybe it’s as small as a touch, a bounty of apples, or the smell of trees letting loose their leaves. Maybe it’s the magic you find in the fractal stalks that burst full of tiny cabbages. Maybe it’s the meditation of your knife and your board and the clinking of a whisk against the wall of your favorite bowl. This salad is a gift you give yourself. Sometimes it’s sour and sometimes full of sweet, much like your heart.
If you have a mandolin (and a safety glove), thinly shave some brussels sprouts. If you don’t, then trim the stems and cut the globe in half through the trimmed end. Then, lay flat and thinly slice.
Grate some smoked gouda using a box grater or some other method of producing chunks of creamy smoked goodness to fold into the mix.
Whisk the juice from one whole lemon with a couple healthy dollops of good mustard. Add one diced shallot, a little salt, a touch of maple syrup, and whisk it all together while slowly dribbling in about 1/3 cup of good olive oil. Taste. Adjust. Dip a little brussels sprout shaving in and taste again.
Toss the brussels sprouts with a little dressing at a time until you are happy with the balance. Fold in chopped pecans, dried cherries (or cranberries), and the smoked gouda. Find a ray of light to settle into. Make a second bowl and share the light with a friend.
More Brussels Sprouts to bring you joy:
Brussels Sprout and Apple Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette
Caesar Salad and Parmesan Crisps with Fall Vegetables (Brassicas for Days)
Essays from other Election Days
maybe if you eat the whole thing you can sleep through the election/apocalypse.
when there’s nothing left to do but wait
“Red” Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting:
you might as well find something else to do today.
holy fuck, y’all. we are STILL super racist, still.
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