Summer salads get a lot of love for their sweetness and breezy demeanor, but I like the flintiness and incorrigibility of winter greens. You have to work with them, be assertive, and show that you are up to the challenge. Winter greens will yield—just dress them with anchovy, a lashing of garlic and chile, and a stream of lemon juice. They’ll even do you a favor and last for a few days. This Brussels sprouts salad is best dressed at least 15 minutes before serving and will hold up in the fridge for two or three days—and that’s why I sneak it into lunches in this menu.

You can prep the Brussels sprouts in a food processor or with a mandoline, but slicing is best and makes me less nervous than a mandoline. The Brussels sprouts and greens can be prepped and kept in zipper plastic bags or a container for up to 3 days.

Brussels sprouts haters at home? It happens. This salad is also great with shaved celery root, or fold the dressing into roasted beets, cauliflower, or broccoli.

You can serve this with our Pan Roasted Chicken recipe, which will also provide leftovers for another meal. Get more helpful hints for everyday cooking and for the coming holidays in our Storing and Re-Heating Tricks and Tips to Survive the Holidays article. For more, check out our Shaved Brussels Sprouts recipe.

  • Yields: 4 servings, plus leftovers
  • Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients (11)

Anchovy Dressing:

  • 3 anchovy fillets
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Salt
  • 1 lemon, juiced, plus more as needed
  • 2 teaspoons grainy mustard
  • Large pinch of piment d’Espelette or other ground chile
  • 1⁄2 cup (120ml) extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:

  • 1 pound (450g) Brussels sprouts, trimmed and very thinly sliced (you want 4 1⁄2 cups/450g)
  • 2 handfuls of mustard greens, baby kale, or spinach, stemmed and torn into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups/80g)
  • 1⁄4 cup (25g) Pecorino, shaved

Instructions

  1. In a mortar and pestle, mash together the anchovies, garlic, and a pinch of salt until you have a pulp. If your mortar is large enough, make the rest of the dressing in it; otherwise transfer to a bowl.
  2. Whisk in the lemon juice, mustard, and piment d’Espelette, followed by the olive oil. Store the dressing in the fridge for up to a week.
  3. The day of: Combine the Brussels sprouts and mustard greens in a large bowl, pour in one-quarter of the dressing, and toss together until evenly coated. Add more dressing as you like and a squeeze of lemon juice to freshen things up, reserving the rest for a mustard greens salad you can make later with a grain like faro.
  4. Pile the dressed salad into a serving bowl and top with the Pecorino. This salad is best dressed at least 15 minutes before serving, though it will keep for a couple of days.