Chef Thomas
A Ploughman's Salad
The old pub ploughman's, shaken loose from its board and laid across butter lettuce with a sharp mustard dressing, for the kind of lunch that feels like you've given yourself the afternoon off.
Culinary Explorer
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Winter Leaves with Kale, Watercress and Brussels Sprouts
Created by Chef Thomas
A salad of shaved Brussels sprouts, young kale, and peppery watercress, dressed sharply with lemon and scattered with toasted almonds. Green and bright and alive when everything outside has stopped.
Salads
British
Weeknight
Christmas
20 min
Active Time
5 min cook•25 min total
Yield4 servings
January. The garden is bare and the light goes at four o'clock. The market stalls are stacked with roots and brassicas and not much else. This is when you need a salad most, not the pale, apologetic sort that comes in a plastic bag, but something with backbone. Something green and raw and sharp enough to remind you that the year is still turning.
Brussels sprouts, shaved thin and separated into pale, delicate leaves, are a different thing entirely from the boiled specimens of Christmas memory. Raw, they're nutty and crisp and almost sweet. Mixed with young kale and a handful of peppery watercress, dressed with lemon and good olive oil, scattered with almonds toasted until they smell like warm marzipan, this becomes the kind of salad that earns its place at the centre of the table. Not beside something. Not underneath something. The thing itself.
I make this through the cold months whenever the sprouts at the market are tight and small and look like they've come off the stalk that morning. It's the sort of dish I write down in the notebook with a single line: green salad, January, sharp and good. A recipe is a conversation, not a contract. Use what you've got, adjust the dressing to your taste, and eat it before the leaves lose their nerve.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
young kale
Quantity
150g
tough stems removed, leaves torn
watercress
Quantity
100g
thick stems trimmed
Brussels sprouts
Quantity
200g
outer leaves removed
flaked almonds
Quantity
50g
lemon
Quantity
1
juiced
good olive oil
Quantity
4 tablespoons
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove
crushed to a paste with salt
Dijon mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
Parmesan or hard cheese (optional)
Quantity
30g
shaved
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| young kaletough stems removed, leaves torn | 150g |
| watercressthick stems trimmed | 100g |
| Brussels sproutsouter leaves removed | 200g |
| flaked almonds | 50g |
| lemonjuiced | 1 |
| good olive oil | 4 tablespoons |
| garliccrushed to a paste with salt | 1 small clove |
| Dijon mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
| Parmesan or hard cheese (optional)shaved | 30g |
Equipment Needed
- •Sharp knife or mandoline
- •Large wide salad bowl
- •Small jar or bowl for the dressing
- •Dry frying pan
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the Brussels sprouts
Trim the base of each sprout and peel away any tired outer leaves. Now shave them as finely as you can. A sharp knife and a steady hand will do, or a mandoline if you have one and trust yourself with it. What you want are thin, pale ribbons that will separate into individual leaves when you toss them. Drop them into a bowl of cold water for a minute. They'll crisp up and the loose leaves will fan out. Drain and dry them well. Wet leaves won't take a dressing.
Choose sprouts that are tight, small, and feel heavy for their size. The big ones are often bitter and cabbage-y. You want the ones that still look like they belong on the stalk. - 2
Prepare the kale
Strip the kale leaves from their stems. If you've got the young, tender sort, just tear the leaves roughly. If they're tougher, slice them into thin ribbons and give them a gentle massage with a pinch of salt and a few drops of olive oil. Sounds odd. Works. Thirty seconds of rubbing between your fingers and the leaves go from stiff and squeaky to silky and dark. You'll feel the moment they yield.
- 3
Toast the almonds
Scatter the flaked almonds into a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Stay close. They go from pale to golden in about two minutes, and from golden to burnt in about ten seconds. Shake the pan now and then. When they smell warm and toasty and have taken on a light tan, tip them onto a plate immediately. They'll carry on cooking in the hot pan if you leave them, and then you'll be starting again.
Trust your nose here. The almonds will smell ready before they look ready. If the kitchen smells of warm marzipan, they're done. - 4
Make the dressing
Crush the garlic to a paste with a pinch of sea salt on your chopping board, using the flat of a knife. Scrape it into a small bowl or jar. Add the lemon juice and the mustard, stir, then pour in the olive oil. Whisk it together, or put the lid on the jar and shake it. Taste it. The dressing should be sharp and bright, enough to stand up to the bitterness of the leaves. If it needs more lemon, more lemon. More salt, more salt. Season and taste. Then taste again.
- 5
Toss and serve
Put the shaved sprouts, kale, and watercress into a wide bowl. Pour over the dressing and use your hands to turn everything through, gently, making sure the leaves are coated but not crushed. The watercress is fragile, so it goes in last and gets the lightest touch. Scatter the toasted almonds over the top. Shave over some Parmesan if you like, though it's not essential. Carry it to the table while the almonds are still warm and the leaves still have their spine. This is a salad that doesn't wait politely.
Chef Tips
- •The quality of your olive oil matters here more than almost anywhere else. There's no cooking to hide behind. Use something you'd happily pour onto bread, grassy and peppery, not the bottle you fry with.
- •If you can find cavolo nero instead of regular kale, use it. The leaves are darker, more tender, and have a sweetness that works beautifully raw when sliced thin. Either way, young leaves are what you're after. The big, tough ones belong in soup.
- •This salad sits alongside a roast chicken or a piece of grilled fish without any fuss. On Christmas Day, it cuts through the richness of everything else on the table. Sometimes the simplest plate on the spread is the one people remember.
- •Add the dressing just before you eat. The kale can handle sitting in it for a few minutes, but the watercress will wilt and the sprouts will lose their snap. Dressed salads don't wait. Neither should you.
Advance Preparation
- •The leaves can be washed, dried, and stored in a sealed container lined with a damp cloth for up to a day ahead. Keep them cold and crisp.
- •The dressing can be made several hours ahead and left at room temperature. Give it a good shake before using.
- •Toast the almonds ahead if you like, but they're best on the day. Store in an airtight jar if you must.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 155g)
Calories
265 calories
Total Fat
23 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
6 mg
Sodium
500 mg
Total Carbohydrates
10 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
9 g
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