Christmas Salad

I’ve written this recipe in a generic format to emphasize that you can substitute the various ingredients for similar alternatives based on your own preferences, availability, and what’s in season where you are.

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Instructions

This is a salad that can easily be prepped ahead of time and assembled a couple of hours before serving.

Up to 3 days in advance:

• Make the poached figs.

  • Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and add enough water to barely cover.

  • Cover with a lid and bring to a gentle simmer.

  • Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  • Turn off the heat and allow to cool, then transfer the whole mixture to a container and refrigerate.

  • When ready to use, strain out the liquid (Don’t toss it! It makes a delicious syrup for drinks.) and separate the figs from the other solids. Discard the peels and spices.

• Make the quick-pickled celery:

  • Add all ingredients to a glass jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

Up to 2 days in advance:

• Wash and cut/shred your base greens/vegetables (Don’t add any of the massage ingredients yet!) and keep them in a tupperware in the fridge with a damp towel to prevent drying out. Keep the stuff that’s going to get massaged (leafy things) separate from stuff that’s not going to be pampered.

• Mix your dressing and store in the fridge.

• If using a fresh pomegranate, remove the seeds and store in the fridge in a sealed container.

• If making your own candied nuts, do that!

The day before:

• Massage your kale (or similar) with the oil, lemon, and salt until very dark and reduced in volume by about half. Return to the same container in the fridge, sans towel.

A few hours before serving:

• Mix together your base greens and a light amount of dressing in your serving dish.

• Crisp up the bacon or sausage or tempeh on the stove.

• Remove the figs and pickled celery from their liquids, taking care not to add too much extra wetness to the salad.

• Add all the ingredients on top of your mixed salad base and keep in the fridge. Everything is moist enough that it doesn’t really need to be covered.

To serve:

• Mix it all up in the serving bowl!

• Take it out to the table, receive compliments, and provide your guests with a pitcher of extra dressing so they can throttle their own servings.

Ingredients

Hearty Salad Base

• Any sturdy greens and/or cruciferous vegetables (think kale, chard, brussels, collards, romanesco)

• My version, using equal amounts of each:

  • Purple kale, cut into thin ribbons and massaged with a few tablespoons of olive oil, one lemon’s juice, and a generous sprinkling of salt

  • Brussels sprouts, de-stemmed and “shaved” - which I did using my food processor with a peeler-type attachment

Maple Mustard Dressing

• Stone-ground mustard

• Maple syrup

• Lemon juice

• Salt & pepper

• Onion powder

• Garlic powder

• Nutritional yeast

Mix-Ins

• Anything you want that satisfy these flavor and texture elements: sweet, salty/briny, crunchy, creamy. Additional ideas include:

  • Homemade croutons using crusty bread

  • Berries

  • Pita chips

  • Shaved parmesan

  • Pickled red onions

  • Pieces of nut brittle

  • Slivered almonds

  • Sliced pears or apples

  • Pan-crisped sausage

  • Marinated tempeh

• Orange-poached figs:

  • 1.5 C dried figs, stems removed and cut in half if particularly large

  • 3 oranges’ peels (the part you’d zest, but big pieces) and juice

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • Pinch whole cloves

  • 1 star anise

• Pomegranate seeds

• Candied spiced walnuts and pecans (I use Caitlin Shoemaker’s stovetop method for a 50/50 walnut to pecan ratio with the addition of some warming spices.)

• Quick-pickled celery ribbons:

  • Celery ribs, made into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler and cut to ~3” length

  • Rice vinegar

  • Water

  • Sugar

  • Salt

  • Celery seeds

  • Caraway seeds

  • Mustard seeds

• Super-crispy bacon pieces (I used the Benevolent Bacon brand)

• Crumbled feta (I used the Follow Your Heart brand)