Winter Salad With Radicchio, Endive and Citrus

Today is my beautiful mom’s birthday, and I’m writing this post in her honor. Several years ago on this day I wrote one of my all-time favorite blog entries about our family’s Black Magic Cake.  I don’t know how I can top that, so today I’m posting a salad recipe instead.   Now before you yawn, please know that this fabulous Winter Salad With Radicchio, Endive and Citrus is definitely celebration-worthy.

It’s also appropriate for Mom's birthday because she is the queen of the beautifully composed salad. Ever since I was a kid, I always remember Mom presenting these artful-looking salads, incorporating as many colors and textures as she could.  It was a mini painting on a plate.

During these winter months, I shy away from typical leafy salads since most of the available greens these days are rather limp and uninspiring.  Instead, I turn to vegetables that are crisp and assertive right now.  Radicchio and endive are both members of the chicory family, and I can always rely on them to wake up my palate during the winter doldrums, as well as help combat those starchy/cheesy comfort food cravings.

I love the variety of textures and tastes in this winter salad. The tangle of bitter radicchio and endive leaves, shaved into paper-thin ribbons, is balanced by the crisp sweetness of the little celery crescents.  Juicy orange segments add citrusy brightness.  Slivered scallions pack a punch while cilantro mellows it out, and a zippy Dijon vinaigrette ties it all together.

Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad (a la ABC Kitchen)

I am totally obsessed with this Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad from ABC Kitchen. In fact, this post should really be entitled “Go Make This NOW!”  I haven’t actually been to ABC Kitchen myself, but if the rest of their food is anything like this brilliant carrot concoction, I want to have lunch there as soon as possible. 

It’s been a while since a dish grabbed my attention so insistently.  Ever since finding this recipe two weeks ago in the New York Times, I’ve made this salad nine times and for five different friends. Everyone flips when they taste it, and I think you will too.

At first glance the roasted carrots, avocado slices and sprouts seemed a slightly incongruous combination, or at least something reminiscent of my ultra-healthy 1970s California childhood.   However, I was intrigued enough to try it immediately, making the whole recipe so that I’d have leftovers for the next day or two. It turns out that the combination of the fragrant roasted carrots with velvety avocado slices is an inspired one, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I ate the entire thing in one sitting.

These are no ordinary roasted carrots. Normally I’d be happy drizzling a bunch of carrots (or almost any vegetable) with a liberal dose of olive oil, salt and pepper before popping them in the oven.  But these carrots go to a whole new level when covered with a garlicky paste, enlivened with cumin and fresh thyme as well as lots of salt, pepper and hot chile flakes. 

Shaved Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan

After my wordy protestations this past month about wanting to be back in my kitchen after weeks away, I haven’t actually turned on the stove very much.  When I’m not making vast quantities of green juice, I’m content to find whatever produce looks freshest and assemble a simple huge salad with it.  If I add fresh herbs, some toasted nuts, a few shavings of a pungent cheese and a drizzle of great olive oil, I'll call it a meal.  This Shaved Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Pine Nuts and Parmesan definitely follows that formula with very happy results.

This is the time of year when zucchini is growing out of control, overflowing in the gardens and in the markets. When I walk by the farmer’s market stands in my neighborhood and see these perfect specimens at the peak of their season, it’s very hard for me to pass them up. Not to be confused with much paler yellow summer squash, I love the robust yellow variety as well as their darker green counterparts too.

Zucchini is very versatile, lending itself well to being steamed, sautéed, grilled, roasted, baked into quick breads or cakes, or simply eaten raw. I can happily eat my Quick Sauté with Mint and Almonds on a daily basis without growing tired of it, but lately I don’t feel like turning on my stove even for the 60 seconds required for this recipe.  Instead, it’s been fun to put my vegetable peeler to work and make this raw salad on a regular basis.

Black Bean & Blue Corn Chopped Salad

I often get in a major rut with particular recipes, repeatedly making a certain dish well beyond the point where most people would get sick of it and move onto something else.  Case in point: I have made my Black Bean & Blue Corn Chopped Salad four times in the past five days.  But I can't seem to get enough of these flavors, so it seems silly not to prepare yet another bowlful of it when I already have the ingredients on hand.

Seriously, what’s not to love? Crisp hearts of romaine provide a base for a colorful riot of diced peppers, tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, pepperjack cheese, scallions, and avocado.  A zingy chile-lime vinaigrette ties the ingredients all together, while a handful of crumbled blue corn tortilla chips push this salad over the top.

 

This has been a long-time favorite salad of mine, and I’ve foisted it on at least twenty different people this week.  It makes a satisfying solo meal, but I think it’s especially perfect for a big crowd of people, especially when that party takes place on the most stunning late spring night on a beautiful roof top.

Kale Salad With Peanut Vinaigrette A La Houston's

I got knocked out with the flu this month, which was a major shock since I have the hearty constitution of an ox and rarely get sick. (My last cold was so long ago that George W. Bush was president at the time, the economy hadn’t tanked yet, and Daniel Day-Lewis only had one Best Actor Oscar instead of three!) I was in bed for a week and had no appetite whatsoever, but towards the end of that week I began craving kale in the worst way. I didn’t want just any kale dish; I wanted the Houston’s kale salad with peanut vinaigrette that my friends and I have recently become obsessed with. 

I found this baby red kale at the farmer’s market. Isn’t it gorgeous? It was worth the effort of getting out of bed for the first time all week. 

I know that everyone has a kale salad recipe these days, so much so that it’s a food trend in danger of overkill. I’ve even posted two different kale salad recipes here on Kitchen Fiddler in recent years, but I’m going to give you one more, regardless. And you won’t be sorry that I did, once you taste it for yourself. 

Raw Kale Salad

When I was growing up, there was a salad on our table every single night, without fail. My mother assembled salads that were a riot of colors and textures, in an attempt to give us as much vegetable variety as she possibly could. Though I don’t think I complained about my mom’s ultra-healthy creations at the time, I know I appreciate her efforts much more in retrospect. I was a kid who definitely preferred making my own salads at a restaurant salad bar when I could drown my lettuce in thick blue cheese dressing, croutons and baco-bits. If you had told me when I was little that someday I would be truly excited about eating a kale salad, I would have laughed in your face. However, it’s never too late to surprise yourself, for I have been eating some version of a raw kale salad all week long.

This kale craze started a week ago after I had a great play date with the Little Chef last Friday. We were celebrating the end of his school week on 18th Street, one of our favorite blocks in Manhattan.  You feel like you've hit the jackpot when you're on this singular block that contains one of the greatest children’s bookstores ever (the ever-delightful Books of Wonder) in addition to City Bakery, which proffers serious treats for kids of all ages.

Asian Cabbage Slaw To Start A New Season

I’ve been out of school for more than a decade but every September still feels like a slap in the face, for vacation has ended and it's time to get down to business. My Augusts tend to be rather indulgent anyway since it’s Birthday Month, and while I’m all for celebrating for extended periods of time, even I can admit that this most recent birthday month was a tad excessive. If nearly every meal in August included some form of cake, pastry, or ice cream, is it any wonder that my clothes are now too tight?? Just call me Murder She Wrote, but it’s not too difficult to figure that one out.

After the rude awakening of unsuccessfully trying to squeeze into my clothes this September, I knew I had to buckle down and make some changes. I wasn’t going to do anything drastic like permanently eliminate sugar or never eat a smidge of dairy ever again, for I don’t respond favorably under the threat of “YOU CAN NEVER DO THAT AGAIN FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!” especially when my relationship with chocolate or cheese might be put at risk. But I knew I needed to cut down on those things and make a daily commitment to eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. Two weeks into this vegetable-friendly eating plan, I must say that it’s been relatively easy to stick to, especially with this Asian Cabbage Slaw in my repertoire.

Avocado Grapefruit Salad To Win Your Heart

It has been said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. If there is any truth to that claim, then credit must be given to an Avocado Grapefruit Salad for bringing my parents together once upon a time. Since today is their wedding anniversary, I’m compelled to share this particular recipe with you this afternoon.

My dad was in college when he met my mom. His father was the chairman of the music department at Mankato State University in Minnesota, and it was he who hired my mom to be the new piano teacher on their faculty. Dad, a double major studying music and pre-med at that same university, was away at a summer music festival when Mom came for her interviews, but he remembers a letter from his mother shortly afterward saying, “We hired a new piano teacher. I think you’ll really like her.”

Mom was fresh out of grad school when she landed that job, and I like to imagine the impression she must have made when she first arrived at the university. Incredibly lovely and kind-hearted with an Audrey Hepburn-type grace, she was also a beautiful pianist, and my dad was completely smitten with her right away. Though they didn’t date until later, they did have a lot of built-in time together those first two years of knowing each other. Dad asked her to be the pianist for his cello recitals, just as an excuse to spend more time with her, and his parents often invited her to join them for social gatherings and faculty events. My mom loved their whole family, especially my witty dad who made her laugh a lot.

An Orzo Salad To Make Repeatedly

I have a big honking crush on an Orzo Salad right now. Yes, that’s right, I’ve become smitten with a salad and I can’t get enough of it. It’s a little like falling in love with someone new without enough hours in the day, for you want to spend as much time as possible together while discovering what makes this new person in your life so compelling. At least that’s always been my own experience, but I must confess that I also do this with food to a similar degree.

When I first encounter a new magical combination of ingredients, I often wind up making the same dish repeatedly for days or even weeks on end. For example, I have no shame in admitting that I made Chocolate Toasts every day for MONTHS after my initial encounter with them once upon a time. (If you’ve ever tried this divine combination of toasted baguette slices topped with melted bittersweet chocolate and drizzled with olive oil and a pinch of flaky sea salt, you’d probably have a similar daily compulsion yourself.) Those who know me well might expect me to be particularly obsessive that way when it comes to desserts. But oddly enough, I actually get into more of a tape loop with savory recipes, especially when a great salad is involved.

Arugula Fennel Salad With A Twist

I must admit that I’m having a difficult time finding a good balance this fall. I wanted to find the happy medium between work and play, but I have to accept the reality that I find it very difficult to be disciplined in more than one area of my life at a time. I’m thrilled to be working on a major project right now, one that is exciting and unusual, though it is taking up a vast amount of my mental energy and is eclipsing most of the time I would ordinarily spend cooking. I don’t mean to be a hopeless tease about my so-called Project X, for I hope to be able to share it with all of you in time. Please forgive me for being cryptic at the moment, but perhaps I can appease you with a recipe for my new happy discovery: an Arugula Fennel Salad with a bit of a crunchy twist.

Arugula has long been my salad green of choice, and I’ve often tossed it with paper-thin slivers of fennel, finished with a drizzle of good olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar. But I was inspired by a salad that I had at the Zuni Café in San Francisco this summer, one in which the baby arugula and fennel shavings were enlivened with a scattering of toasted breadcrumbs and finely chopped pistachios with a hint of orange. I was so delighted by the Zuni Café version that I had to recreate my own variation for myself here at home.

Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries (With Bread, Arugula and Goat Cheese)

This is one of my favorite times of year. The pace of summer is more relaxed than it is during the school year, and the warmer weather almost justifies indulging in ice cream on a daily basis. It’s also my birthday month, which means that I am ready to celebrate with friends any day this month, not just on my actual birthday. And if those weren’t reasons enough to be happy, it is also CHERRY SEASON!

Cherries have long been my favorite fruit. As a kid I used to devour huge bowlfuls of them in the summers, and the first time I tried a dried cherry, I thought it blew the poor raisin way out of the water. I had several birthdays where I opted for a freshly baked cherry pie over a birthday cake. Black forest cake was a revelation to my 9-year-old self, for it combined three of my favorite things together in one decadent cake: chocolate, whipped cream and cherries. (Glory hallelujah!)

Perhaps cherries seem all the more special to me because their season is so short, only about two months at best. In New York City where there are fruit vendors on many street corners, it is always a momentous day when the cherries first appear at the fruit stands, usually in the middle of June. They typically start out at $4 a pound, but as the summer progresses, the prices drop radically as the cherries become all the more plentiful. It is nearly impossible for me to walk by one of these fruit vendors boasting beautiful cherries without picking up yet another pound or three to take home.

A Sensational Spring Salad

It’s officially spring and I have enjoyed wandering around Riverside Park with my camera these past few days. I had grand plans for a variety of seasonal springtime meals that I wanted to share with all of you lovely friends reading this blog. These photos of newly budding trees at sunset were going to be a bonus inclusion in various blog posts, the proverbial icing on the cake.

Aren’t they pretty? I thought you’d enjoy them.

But I have a confession to make. I haven’t been cooking at all lately. I haven’t really been writing either. I am a horribly negligent blogger, and I apologize to all of you who have checked in on my little blog in these past weeks only to find no recent activity. I’m sure you’ve wondered if I will ever put up a new post, and I am sorry that I have been remiss in neglecting Kitchen Fiddler this spring. However, I do have a good excuse.

Lately I have been focusing on the ‘fiddler’ part of my blog’s name much more than usual, for I have been practicing the violin like a madwoman in preparation for a big concert in California. On May 1st I will be performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with my cellist father and with world-renowned pianist Menahem Pressler. Just writing those words gives me a serious adrenalin rush, for Mr. Pressler has been one of the great musical inspirations throughout my life.

Ecstatic About Escarole

I love escarole. Absolutely LOVE it. I am going through a phase where I am bored with regular lettuce, instead opting for bolder and firmer greens. Radicchio, arugula, frisee and chicory all make me happy, but lately it is escarole that really makes my taste buds dance.

Escarole is the M.V.P. of the chicory family. At first glance it looks like a firm head of green leaf lettuce, but it has so much more to offer than that. Gutsy and bold, escarole can definitely hold its own on center stage, yet it is gracious and versatile enough to be an excellent supporting player when necessary.

It is gorgeous as the main star of a perfectly composed salad, which is probably my favorite way to enjoy it. It makes for a mouthwatering bruschetta when slivered and sautéed with olive oil and garlic, generously piled onto grilled bread and topped with toasted pine nuts. Yet it is equally delicious in a soup (especially a hearty vegetable soup with white beans and a hunk of parmesan cheese thrown in for flavor), where silky emerald ribbons of simmered escarole contribute a depth to the overall dish. It is like finding the perfect date, one who is savvy and well-rounded, utterly at ease at both a formal black-tie event as well as at a very casual relaxed affair.

I found the most beautiful head of escarole at the Fall Festival farm stand on Sunday, and I have been making a series of salads with it this week. Would you just look at this beautiful specimen?! When I removed the rubber band around its leaves, it made itself quite comfortable and sprawled out all over my cutting board.

(It reminded me of my hair on a humid day: it can be carefully contained, but once it is loosened from its restraining elastic band, it goes crazy! Look at my profile picture if you need further proof of this.)

Alissa came over the other day to help me out with this considerable head of escarole. We’d had a decadent afternoon, celebrating the beginning of her birthday week by escaping to a movie theater to watch “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. It was cold twilight when we emerged from the theater back onto Broadway, yet we were floating on visions of the most delicious Spanish sunshine with daydreams of fleeing the concrete jungle for blissful Barcelona.

Since we had eschewed the overpriced stale movie popcorn and were both ravenous by the end of the film, I offered to make something involving this crazy bunch of escarole I had at home. Now I know that might not sound like the most thrilling proposition, especially when you’ve just spent the previous two hours enjoying a smoldering Javier Bardem and a fiery Penelope Cruz on the big screen! But you might feel quite thrilled yourself if you tasted this salad too, one which falls into the category of “So Simple Yet So Incredibly Satisfying”. If you have great ingredients to work with and use the freshest produce available to you, it’s easy to prepare dishes that answer to that description. We’re talking four main ingredients (escarole, shallots, mint, and almonds) and three supporting ingredients (olive oil, white wine vinegar, and fresh lemon juice) to highlight the flavors and tie it all together. Check out what happened:

The star of today’s post, my beautiful majestic head of escarole, was shredded into ribbons, then cut crosswise into smaller bite-sized pieces before being placed in a large salad bowl. Shallots shaved into paper-thin rings got a short soak in a spoonful of wine vinegar, just to take the edge off of them. Slivered almonds are always lovely, but they became even lovelier when lightly toasted. Fresh herbs are one of the easiest way to add an additional layer of bright flavor to any dish, and I thinly sliced a few mint leaves for this particular salad. Once the shallots had a few minutes to soak and were removed from the vinegar, my four main ingredients were ready to play.

These flavors were so fresh and bright, they didn’t need much else except a drizzle of great olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper to tie them all together. When you're dressing a salad, I would encourage you to taste as you go, using the recipe as a guideline for the amount of olive oil and lemon. Start by adding a smaller amount, since you can always add more if necessary but you can’t take away. You want the escarole leaves to glisten with the finest film of olive oil, lightly coated but not laden down with oil. The lemon juice adds a necessary acidity, a brightness that only enhances the flavors of the salad. Taste as you go, adding more olive oil and lemon juice if you think it needs it. I gilded the lily a bit by shaving some fresh Pecorino cheese over the top, which is a fabulous addition but not strictly necessary.

Since it was the beginning of Alissa’s birthday week, we opened a celebratory bottle of Punkt Genau, a sparkling Gruner Veltliner from Austria. I have a handful of friends who are part of the "I LOVE Sparkling Wine" club, of which Alissa and I are both founding members. Whether it comes from France, Italy, Australia, California, or in this case, Austria, we simply love bubbly wine! I discovered this particular wine in January of this year, and it was one of the great revelations of my wine year. Since Gruner Veltliners tend to be still white wines, this sparkling beauty is the only one of its kind, redolent of green apples, minerality, green melon and honeysuckle. I have ordered cases of Punkt Genau from Astor Wines over the course of the year, and each bottle has been an effervescent delight.

The Punkt proved to be a felicitous choice for the evening, as this happy bubbly wine truly enhanced the lively flavors of the escarole. We both kept laughing over how excited we were about this SALAD! It’s one thing to be thrilled about gorgeous oysters, or the most beautifully prepared piece of fish, or any number of decadent chocolate desserts. But an escarole salad?! I told you it was a more thrilling proposition that you might have expected! Alissa kept saying, “I wish you could include an audio clip on your blog of me moaning over how much I love this salad!”

In honor of today’s birthday girl, I am including the recipe for this favorite escarole salad. (Here’s to you, Alissa, wishing you many escarole salads and beautiful bottles of sparkling wine this year along with every other happy birthday wish!)

ECSTATIC ESCAROLE SALAD

You can substitute chicory for escarole in this recipe with equally happy results. This makes a good starting course for 4. However, if your names are Louise and Alissa, this recipe might only provide 2 large servings!

1 small shallot, peeled and sliced crosswise into paper-thin rings

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

6 cups escarole, leaves washed and spun dry

2 to 3 tablespoons freshly chopped mint leaves

¼ cup toasted slivered almonds, or more to taste

3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about half a lemon)

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Pecorino cheese, for grating (optional)

Place the sliced shallot and vinegar in a small bowl with a sprinkling of salt. Let sit for five minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.

Slice the escarole leaves into thin ribbons, then cut cross-wise into bite-sized pieces. Place the chopped escarole in a large salad bowl. Drain the shallots from the vinegar and add them to the escarole, along with the chopped mint leaves and toasted slivered almonds.

Drizzle the olive oil over the salad and toss gently, using just enough oil so that all of the escarole leaves are lightly coated. Add the fresh lemon juice, a sprinkling of sea salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Toss gently and taste for seasoning and balance, adding more lemon juice and/or salt&pepper if needed. Divide equally between four salad plates or bowls. If you are using the optional Pecorino cheese, grate a little on top of each salad serving. Go crazy.

Figs and Sweet Cheeks on the Roof

I found these beautiful ripe figs this afternoon. They were so inviting, so purple and perfect and ready to play. They were practically begging me to take them home and do something fabulous with them.

I thought of slicing them, drizzling them with a little aged balsamic vinegar and calling it a day. I considered broiling them open-faced with a dab of goat cheese on top or wrapping them in prosciutto. But when I found a sweet little speckled dinosaur plum which seemed ready to jump into my basket of its own volition, I decided that what the figs really needed was for me to turn them into a salad of note. And I knew just the perfect recipe was waiting for me in one of my favorite cookbooks, Sunday Suppers At Lucques by Suzanne Goin.

(See, this isn’t JUST a dessert-related blog! Trust me, I have quite a few savory tricks up my sleeves.)

I always think of figs as transitional fruits, creating a bridge between the stone fruits of summer to the apples and pears of autumn. Every year I always pray that cherry season will last just through mid-August so that I can have fresh cherries on my birthday, and sometimes I get lucky. It is always a very sad day for me when I no longer find my beloved cherries at the fruit stands, but figs are a consolation to me as the summer ends. Just when cherries disappear from view, the figs appear in all of their dusky purple splendor, and I always am glad to see them in their little baskets at the markets. They are quite friendly and play well with others, but I think they especially pair nicely with plums and nectarines. And that is just what they did tonight.