Radicchio, blue cheese, apple and walnut salad

Serves

4 People

Cooking Time

15 minutes

Season

Autumn

Winter

Dietary

Vegetarian

Gluten Free

Introduction:
Radicchio is very much a love it or hate it vegetable in the UK. It's visually stunning, but often has a bitter flavour that many people avoid. However, we love Radicchio in our household, and we believe it's always has to do with how you prepare it.

Radicchio is best paired with strong flavours. Sweet and tangy dressings, blue cheese, anchovies, are all great options, and the balance between the sweet, bitter and salty make a fantastic combination that dazzles the taste buds.

This recipe is a great and easy entry into the magical world of Radicchio. It's visually stunning, tangy and sweet, with a mild bitterness coming through from the radicchio itself. It serves 4-6 people as a side, but can also be made into a main meal by adding things like roasted squash, or spiced chickpeas or other beans.

Ingredients:

1 Radicchio Head, cut in half, cored and roughly 'diced'
75g-100g of a string blue cheese
75g-100g of walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
2 sweet apples, diced
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar (or other vinegar of your choosing)
1 tbsp of honey or maple syrup ( or more if you prefer it sweeter)
3-4 tsp of Dijon mustard
(Optional) 2 tbsp of Greek yoghurt for creaminess
1 tsp of soy sauce (or substitute with salt)
Salt to taste

Method:

Cut your Radicchio in half. Remove the core with a V cut from the centre. Place the radicchio face down on your chopping board and cut into 2cm strips, lengthways, then the other way to create a dice. Cut your apple, and crumble your blue cheese. Combine all in a large salad bowl.
In a small frying pan, toast your walnuts until they start to brown, whilst tossing occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool before roughly chopping and adding them to your salad bowl
Combine all the other ingredients in a small bowl or jar, including the yoghurt if using. Whisk together, or shake the jar to emulsify the dressing. Taste, and adjust salt or sweetness based on preference
Add the dressing to your salad and toss everything to combine. Serve as a side and enjoy!

Notes:

Feel free to use additional blue cheese if you are a blue cheese lover, or additional apple if you prefer it sweeter.
The apples can be replaced by good quality, juicy pears.
This recipe serves 4-6 people as a side, depending on the size of your Radicchio head. However, you can turn it into a main meal by adding additional ingredients.
Roasted squash is a great addition to this salad to make it more filling.
You can also roast a can of chickpeas, tossed in oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and a touch of chilli for 20min, then added to this salad, for a more filling and satisfying meal.