This Shaved Brussels Kale Salad with Butternut Squash, Mandarins, and Candied Pistachios is the epitome of everything I want in a winter salad. Thinly shaved brussels, shredded kale, maple roasted butternut squash, the sweetest satsuma mandarins, avocado, thinly sliced red onion, and the most delicious candied pistachios! All tossed with a super simple, but incredible citrus vinaigrette. It’s the most perfect combination of seasonal ingredients, flavors, and textures!
For me, this winter salad is the salad to end all salads. And I kind of consider myself somewhat of a salad connoisseur, if that’s even a thing. Ha! For years and years, since college probably, I fell in love with salads and I’ve had at least one every day since. I’m not talking wimpy salads with mixed greens, a few sliced tomatoes, and shredded carrots. I’m talking big salads filled with tons of texture and flavor that make you CRAVE them. And this is one of my absolute favorites. Like ever!
There are SO many texture and flavor components to be excited about here. Shaved brussels, shredded kale, shaved fennel (one of my favorite things ever and so underrated!), creamy avocado, super thinly sliced red onion, the most delicious satsuma mandarins, and probably my favorite part – candied pistachios (!!!)
You always see candied walnuts and candied pecans, and the occasional almond, but never pistachios. Which is crazy because pistachios are so incredible (definitely my favorite nut!), and their saltiness and flavor tastes so incredible with a little sweetness! Hello pistachio ice cream and every pistachio dessert to ever exist.
To candy the pistachios, I toss them in a little coconut oil, coconut sugar, maple syrup, and sea salt, and they’re amazing. And not bad for you! I like using a less refined sugar like coconut sugar, but brown sugar would work just as well!
The thing about working with heartier greens as a salad base, is that you want to coat them in dressing and/or massage them to help soften them and make them a little bit more palatable. I like to do this to my kale especially. Totally optional but I think it flavors the greens and makes the salad overall more delicious too!
There’s a lot going on in here, so let me break it down for you. We’ve got:
Shaved brussels (you can totally just buy a bag already shredded/shaved to cut down on prep!)
Shredded kale (I love the beautiful dark green lacinato kale, but curly green is fine too!)
Shaved fennel (seriously so underrated and adds such a unique touch to the salad)
Maple roasted butternut squash (does it ever get old?)
Satsuma mandarins (these are SO delish this time of year, but any winter citrus will do!)
Candied pistachios (you already know how I feel about these 🙂 )
Avocado (one of my most used, if not absolute most used ingredient in my kitchen! Not a surprise, I know)
Super thinly sliced red onion (adds so much flavor!)
The most delicious citrus vinaigrette (you will probably want to double this!)
I seriously don’t know if I could top that combination of ingredients. It’s seriously everything I love in a salad and I’m not sure I could improve on it. It’s SO good. A little cheese or bacon probably wouldn’t hurt anyone though!
This salad makes a lot, so you could scale back on ingredients if you’re only making it for 2 or 3. This serves 5, maybe 6 people. I will say that it’s the kind of salad that can sit in the fridge for a day or so and doesn’t get gross like a more delicate green would. Leftovers for lunch the next day would definitely keep!
Especially if you don’t add the avocado, and keep some of the components separate, this will definitely keep. And you might want to double the candied pistachios too, because you’ll probably end up eating half the tray before they make it to the salad. But I wouldn’t know anything about that!
The dressing is pretty much a spin on the types of vinaigrettes I make weekly in my kitchen. This one is made with shallots, garlic, orange zest, freshly squeezed orange juice, apple cider vinegar, a little maple, dijon, and extra virgin olive oil. Shallots and/or garlic, some kind of acid whether it’s from citrus or vinegar, a little sweeter (usually honey or maple), some kind of mustard, and olive oil is the base recipe for any of my vinaigrettes. Go with that combination and you’ll be set.
I’m a firm believer in making your own dressings at home. They’re so much better, more delicious, and they’re not filled with weird things. And you can tailor them and customize them to your tastes!
Which is the most fun part, if you ask me!
If you’re looking for a go-to winter salad that will fill you up and keep you craving green stuff all winter long, this is it. I seriously can’t sing its praises enough!
It’s magical.
Shaved Brussels Kale Salad with Butternut Squash, Mandarins, and Candied Pistachios
This Shaved Brussels Kale Salad with Butternut Squash, Mandarins, and Candied Pistachios is the epitome of everything I want in a winter salad. Thinly shaved brussels, shredded kale, shaved fennel, maple roasted butternut squash, the sweetest satsuma mandarins, avocado, thinly sliced red onion, and the most delicious candied pistachios! All tossed with a super simple, but incredible citrus vinaigrette.
Ingredients
For the salad
- 1 medium bunch lacinato kale, de-stemmed and shredded
- 1 pound brussels sprouts, shaved thin*
- 1 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced
- 1/2 of a medium red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 avocado, pitted and diced
- 3 satsuma mandarins, peeled and sliced*
- salt and pepper
For the candied pistachios
- 1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar*
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil, melted
- pinch of salt
For the maple roasted butternut squash
- 3 cups cubed butternut squash
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
For the citrus vinaigrette
- 1/2 of a medium shallot, finely chopped (about 2 tbsp.)
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- juice of 1 navel orange
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350℉. Begin by placing the kale, brussels, and fennel in a large bowl and toss to combine. Set aside.
Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Place the pistachios on the baking sheet. In a small bowl, stir together the coconut sugar, maple syrup, coconut oil, and salt. Pour mixture over the pistachios and toss to coat. Bake for 5-6 minutes, until caramelized. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before breaking them apart.
Increase oven temperature to 400℉ for the butternut squash. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Add the butternut squash and toss with olive oil, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tender and golden.
Make the citrus vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk together the shallot, garlic, orange zest, orange juice, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, dijon, salt, and pepper until combined. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until combined and season to taste with additional salt and pepper if desired.
To assemble the salad, add a few tablespoons of dressing to the kale, brussels, and fennel mixture and toss to combine. I like to season the greens with a couple pinches of salt and pepper too. You can massage the kale a bit to soften if it you'd like. Add the red onion, avocado, candied pistachios (you can save a bit for the top if you'd like!), roasted butternut, and mandarins and toss to combine. Drizzle with desired amount of dressing and toss again to coat. Serve with extra dressing and sprinkle with extra candied pistachios if you saved any!
Recipe Notes
*You can buy a bag of pre-shredded brussels to cut down on prep time!
*You can sub any citrus for the mandarins, but they're so good this time of year! Good substitutions would be tangelos, navel oranges, cara cara oranges, or blood oranges!
*You can sub brown sugar for coconut sugar if you'd like!
*Salad components can be prepped ahead of time and tossed together once you're ready to serve!
[…] dressing is pretty much the same as the dressing from my shaved brussels kale salad, and it ranks up there with the best homemade dressing I’ve ever made. And I’ve made a […]