A perky little salad full of bitter, sweet, salty, and tangy flavors to refresh your palate during the depths of winter.
Hello and belated happy new year! It's been quiet around the blog for the past few weeks, but it's been anything but in the Bojon kitchen. I've been working on a few new projects, one that I can't talk about yet (spoiler: it's not a baby or a second book), and a few that I can.
In the last few weeks, I toured the Hangar 1 Distillery in Alameda and made cocktails with one of their signature vodkas. I met a beekeeper at a political rally in Sacramento and communed with her San Francisco hives (more on both later this week). Sarah and I have been styling away for the NYT with photographer Craig "Lightmaster" Lee. I had the pleasure of giving back to one of my amazing recipe testers by endorsing her proposed cookbook, which is on a topic which will prove valuable to so many people. I created my next article for my new Alternative Baking column in GFF Magazine. The winter issue is hot off the press, and it features a spread on buckwheat flour with 2 brand new recipes and 1 favorite adapted from the blog. I can't wait to share the next issue with you in April.
Additionally, there were latkes with family on Chrismukkuh and Jew Year's Eve, a trip to visit Jay's folks in Santa Cruz, and family time with my mom from LA, my niece from New York, and my cousin's family from Fortuna as we all converged on my brother's home in Berkeley.
On New Years Day, Jay and I headed for a hike in Marin with a batch of Lentil Walnut Pate in tow for a party afterwards. This party was pretty much the best thing that ever happened to me. A friend of my sister started reading and cooking from my blog a year or two ago and turned into a superfan who decided cook and bake a dozen or so different recipes from my book and blog to lavish upon a hundred of her friends at her annual New Years Day party, and invited me to attend as the guest of honor. There was Curried Carrot Soup with Ginger and Coconut Milk, GF Meyer Lemon Almond Cake, GF Teff Brownies with Salted Tahini Frosting, No-Bake Hazelnut Ganache Brownies, these GF vegan chocolate chip cookies, Harissa Sweet Potato Latkes with Spiced Yogurt, Orange Olive Oil Cake, Bourbon Cacao Nib Caramel Corn, and many more. The party was like a trip down memory lane for me and Jay, tasting food we've enjoyed throughout the last 7 years.
But I'm whooped. As I said to Jay, "I'm going to need a vacation after this holiday." Instead, I hit the 2017 ground running, with the next few months full of work that I love to do: recipe videos, food photography and styling, book events, and THE SECRET PROJECT. Whew! I need a soak at Kabuki. And I also need a salad.
Chicories were never something I got excited about. Radicchio and frisee were leaves to eat around in salads. Escarole was a scary, head-sized green that would occasionally arrive in our CSA box seemingly to annoy us. Endives were oval chartreuse things to be passed over in favor of little gems and butter lettuce.
But my friend Amelia gave me a new appreciation for the bitter vegetables when she told me she was packing a suitcase full of the little buggers to bring her sweetie, Brandon, in Minnesota where, she claimed, the bitter veggies were nowhere to be found. Brandon knows a thing or two about Italian cooking, having worked as the executive chef of Pizzeria Delfina in the Bay Area. Unlike Americans, Italians value bitter tastes, drinking strong espresso for breakfast, tossing chicories into simple salads and contorni, sipping amari made from artichokes, green walnuts, and other astringent ingredients, and throwing candied citrus peel into sweets. I changed my mind about chicories when I had them prepared Italian-style: tossed in a simple, Caesar-like dressing and smothered in shaved parmesan. I've enjoyed this salad at Delfina, Locanda, and most recently at a party for GFF contributors. One bite of the White Caesar in the current issue, and I couldn't stop dreaming of chicories.
Bitter taste is said to aid digestion. It also has the ability to balance and cut through the cloying, the rich, and the heavy, acting as a bracing palate cleanser. This is the time of year when I start to crave just that. So I tossed a bunch of bitter things together into this simple salad.
There's endive, radicchio, and treviso. There are beets, which are earthy and sweet with a hint of vegetal bitterness. There are segments of citrus. There's grassy olive oil. And to provide relief, there's plenty of milky ricotta salata and nutty toasted pistachios. It's all tossed together in a nap of vinaigrette laced with shallot and apple cider vinegar. Full of the bright flavors and jewel tones of winter, it's sure to revive dreary spirits on a grey day. At least, it did for me.
More Salad Recipes:
- Quinoa Cucumber Salad with Feta, Dill & Mint
- Summer Vegan Green Goddess Salad
- Vegetarian Cobb Salad with Grilled Tofu & Coconut Bacon
- Spring Greens Salad with Fennel, Radish & Miso-Buttermilk Dressing
*Thanks for reading! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, purchase my gluten-free cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this beet, citrus and chicory salad, I’d love to see! Tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.*
Beet, Citrus, & Chicory Salad with Ricotta Salata and Pistachios
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Vinaigrette (makes enough for 2 salads):
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup (60 ml) apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
Salad (makes 4 servings):
- 3 medium beets of any color
- 3-4 large oranges, grapefruits, or other citrus fruits
- 4 cups leaves from chicories (endive, escarole, frisee, Treviso, radicchio, or a mix)
- 1/3 cup toasted pistachios, roughly chopped
- 2-4 ounces ricotta salata, thinly sliced
- flaky salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- In a small jar, combine the shallot, fine salt, vinegar, and olive oil, shaking well to combine and dissolve the salt. Store at room temperature until needed, up to several days.
- Trim the tops and tails from the beets but leave the peels on. Rinse of any sandy or mud, and place the beets in a small saucepan. Cover with 2 inches of water, bring to a boil, and simmer until the beets can be pierced easily with a fork, anywhere from 30-60 minutes, adding more water to the pot as needed. Remove the beets and let cool. They can be prepared ahead and refrigerated for up to several days.
- To make the salad, slice the beets in half lengthwise and cut each half into thin wedges. Cut the top and bottom off of the citrus fruits and use a paring knife to peel away the skin and pith from the outside of the fruit, following the curve of the fruit. Cut out the segments from the membranes, holding the fruit over a bowl to catch the juice (and drink it!).
- Toss the chicory leaves with 2 or 3 tablespoons of vinaigrette to coat them lightly. Spread on a platter or divide among 4 shallow bowls. Scatter with the beets, citrus, pistachios, and cheese. Drizzle with a little more dressing, and sprinkle with a bit of flaky salt and black pepper. Serve right away.
Notes
Nutrition
Julia @ HappyFoods Tube says
I can't stop looking at this simple yet amazing looking salad and can't wait to try it! The photos are stunning as usual! :)
Alanna says
Aw, thank you Julia!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
Fantastic colors!! They call to me to first appreciate the beauty of the salad and then to dig right in. Honey and I have gotten in a bad habit of eating the same salad every single night. Not THE same salad but the same ingredients -- romaine, cucumber, tomato, celery, avocado and Honey has olives on his. Pretty boring, huh?!
Alanna says
That's us usually too, haha!
Martine says
Beautiful array of rainbow colors - that makes such an exciting salad. Looks beautiful and makes me want to run to the market right now. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Alanna says
Aw, thank you Martine.
Christine says
I can't wait to hear more about the secret project! I feel like I need a vacation after the holidays too, as well as many crunchy cleansing salads. This looks like a lovely way to brighten the dreary weather we're having, and it looks so pretty too with the citrus and beets.
Alanna says
Thanks Christine! I hope you get some rest. I'm on the couch with the cat today and I plan to stay here as long as possible!
Lili @ Travelling oven says
Such a pretty colourful salad! Love all the flavours and craving it right now, yum!I had to laugh for that spoiler about your news, as someone who doesn't have a kid, every time I say somewhere that I have some news, everybody always think it's the baby news so I might start using that spoiler too! :D
Alanna says
Haha, do it! Thanks Lili! <3
Elinor aka Beachhutcook says
Such delicious colours and the perfect start to the new year. Boy is it cold by the sea here at the moment.
Alanna says
Brrr, I bet! Stay warm. :)
Angela - Patisserie Makes Perfect says
This salad looks so refreshing and delicious. I will have to make this to feed a crowd. Do you think it would work served with fish?
Alanna says
Hi Angela! Sure, I don't see why not. Some people find cheese weird with fish, but you could easily leave it off or serve it on the side. Let me know how you like it!
Leslie LaskinReese says
Doing my best to share your gifts! You should have seen the list of recipes I planned to make prior to paring it back to manageable. Your curried carrot soup was the biggest hit of all....my favorite of all the favorites were the latkes with your amazing yogurt dip. Definitely not waiting till hanukkah to do that again!
~~Superfan Leslie
Alanna says
You are THE BEST! I can't thank you enough. I think the latkes were my favorite too - you make them better than I do! <3
Amelia says
Turns out there are always radicchio and endive, sometimes escarole or frisée, in the co-ops here in Minneapolis. They may be from California but at least the grocers are shipping for me now. No more produce in my luggage. <3
Alanna says
Aw. Well we'll have to stash some kumquats and bergamots in your bag when you're here in March. ;)
Allyson (Considering The Radish) says
I cannot wait to make this (with the fennel subbed in for beets). I think you're right about craving bitterness this time of year. I don't know if it's something in the weather or just a state of mind, but I enjoy the refreshing bite of bitter greens so much more in the winter than any other time of year. Thanks for the inspiration!
Alanna says
"Or just a state of mind" - haha, totally feel you on that. ;p
janet says
yummmmmm.
I don't and can't ever love frisée (except to scrub the sink with) but endive and its other bitter friends are my favorite things, especially with citrus and I want to eat this all right up right now, especially with that fennel substitution idea....
Alanna says
Haha, I feel you re: frisee!
Laura | Tutti Dolci says
I love the jeweled segments of citrus, just the trick to brighten even the gloomiest January day. Cheers to 2017!
Rebecca says
I just discovered your blog on Monday and I must tell you it depressed me. I live in Minnesota (like Brandon) and this winter is killing me. It feels like we have no fresh produce to be found (even though we really do have some great grocery stores with pretty amazing produce). It's the torment of having to bundle up in a parka and snow boots to go get it. We don't have the luxury of perusing the local farmer's market all year long.
This salad brightened my day. Salad is my comfort food and I am always looking for something different. I love the colors .
I have a new place to go for fresh recipes.
Sabrina B. says
love beets, like endives and sometimes some of the other "bitters", but this looks like a nice balance with citrus, toasted pistachios and ricotta, thank you for this and for the beautiful photography!
Veronica says
I made this over the weekend and I love, love, love it. The bitter and citrusy flavors are exactly what I'm craving right now. I loved it so much that I made it again today to bring in my work lunches. I subbed toasted pumpkin seeds for the pistachios because that's what I had on hand. And I left out the cheese since I don't do dairy, though I bet it adds the perfect creaminess to take it over the top. But even without the cheese, it was lip-smacking good. And pretty! (I used radicchio and purple beets so it was very purple!)
Laura (A Beautiful Plate) says
This might be one of the prettiest salads I've ever seen! I love bitter greens so much, and I can just imagine how good this combination tastes with the ricotta salata. Also, can't wait to here *eventually* about your secret project! :)
Alanna says
Aw, thank you Laura! <3
Sara Krohn says
I've enjoyed this salad for two winters now. Yet my citrus slices never look like yours. How do you make them so 'perfect'? (no membrane, and not mangled to death) thanks.
Alanna says
So glad you like the salad! It definitely takes time and practice to get the supremes looking photogenic. Having a super sharp knife definitely helps! And it's easier to work with larger, firmer citrus too. :)
Sara Krohn says
thanks for the advice, Alanna. I'll try a super sharp knife next time!
Sara Krohn says
this was clarifying too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjkttpeuJso