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Raw Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad with Tahini-Maple Dressing

A simple, filling kale salad with creamy tahini dressing. Thinly sliced brussels sprouts and toasted slivered almonds lend slaw-like crunch, while parmesan and miso contribute savoriness. This salad is easily made vegan; just omit the parmesan cheese.

By cookieandkate · From Open Recipes · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Kale and maple syrup work together. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and 17 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 2
Prep15 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk, tree nuts, soy, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Remove the tough stems from the kale and tear the leaves into bite-sized pieces. Wash and dry them well.

  2. Trim the brussels sprouts and slice them very thinly, discarding any loose outer leaves.

  3. Toast the slivered almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until golden. Set aside to cool.

  4. Make the dressing: whisk the tahini, white wine vinegar, white miso, maple syrup, red pepper flakes and water in a small bowl until smooth. Add a little more water if it is too thick.

  5. Put the kale and sliced brussels sprouts in a large bowl. Add a dash of sea salt and massage the kale with your hands for about 1 minute until it softens slightly.

  6. Pour the dressing over the greens and toss well to coat evenly.

  7. Add the toasted almonds and shaved Parmesan and toss gently once more. Serve right away.

By cookieandkate. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Kale + maple syruptop 19% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together17 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  2. Kale + misotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together13 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Cheese + white winetop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. White wine + vinegartop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,123 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Cheese + vinegartop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (kale, brussels sprouts, cheese, tahini, white wine, vinegar, miso):

  1. Sesamebetter flavor fit
  2. Beansbetter flavor fit
  3. Walnutbetter flavor fit
  4. Almondthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against kale, brussels sprouts, cheese, tahini, white wine, vinegar, miso. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).