Mix all of the vinaigrette ingredients except the lemon zest and orange zest in blender, and process until well blended.
Pour the vinaigrette into a bowl or plastic container, and whisk in the lemon zest and orange zest.
Cover and place in the refrigerator to chill and allow the flavors to blend, for at least 30 minutes.
To make the orange-infused cranberries:
Bring the orange juice to boiling in a sauce pan, stir in the dried cranberries, remove from the heat, and allow to sit for 15-25 minutes or until the cranberries are soft.
To make the salad:
Shave the brussels sprouts using your food processor's fine slicing blade, or by hand using a mandoline slicer. (Leave them raw, or if you prefer, LIGHTLY parboil them. See notes.)
Place the shaved brussels sprouts in a large bowl, add the chopped mint leaves and half the chopped pistachios, and toss together. Pour the citrus vinaigrette over the salad and toss well to coat.
To assemble, place the salad on large serving platter or individual dishes, and top with the remaining chopped pistachios and cranberries. Garnish with reserved whole mint leaves if desired.
Notes
Dressing. I like my salads lightly dressed. If I need a bit of extra flavor, I'll season with some pepper. But if you prefer more dressing, increase the recipe by 50% or even double it.
To make orange-infused cranberries: Bring 1 cup of orange juice to boiling in a sauce pan, add ½ cup of dried cranberries, remove from the heat, and allow to sit for 30 minutes.
Brussels-raw or not. I personally enjoy this salad with raw brussels sprouts. But if you find the texture a little too crunchy or have difficulty digesting raw cruciferous veggies, you can drop them into boiling water for no more than 30 seconds--just until they start to turn bright green. Then immediately drain them in a colander and rinse them under very cold water to stop the cooking.
Mint. Fresh herbs can be expensive, and around the holidays, stores can run out. But do try to include the mint in this recipe--it adds such a fresh, light flavor, and really helps pull everything together.
To make it nut free: omit the almond butter or sub tahini, and omit the pistachios or sub sunflower seeds or pepitas.
To make it maple syrup free: omit or add 2 teaspoons of date paste
About the mellow white miso paste: Most of the sodium in this recipe comes form the miso, but it's considered a 'green light' salt (video) that's less damaging than table salt. I like using mellow white miso paste in a lot of recipes that might call for oil. You can usually find it near the tofu in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.