microgreens

radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon / insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela

| Simona

jump to Recipe

radicchio salad / IMG_4773D

flavorful and brightly colored
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

The novel Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson1 is our current Cook the Books Club selection, hosted by yours truly. I chose the book from a list of food-rich ones because the title intrigued me. Fernet-Branca is a popular digestivo (digestive liqueur) in Italy, not a cooking ingredient. A splash of it can be added to an espresso to make a version of caffè corretto. A Fernet caldo (warm) is meant to help digestion.

While I don't know what Fernet-Branca tastes like, I remember well how much I liked its TV ads when I was a kid. The ads2 featured ever-shifting shapes made with modeling clay.  

"An opera buffa with recipes" is how the NY Times review1 describes the novel, and I agree. The story and the events are somewhat outlandish and hilarious. The protagonists, Gerald and Marta, whose voice and perspective we hear in turn, keep the reader's attention and so does their turf war — fought in a corner of Tuscany, which for both of them is a foreign country.

Gerald, a British ghost writer, is also a creative cook. His recipes, like the book's plot, are — shall we say — unusual and often enriched with Fernet-Branca (to which Marta introduced him). The inspiration for my salad came not from Gerald's creations, but from a connection I made between bitter liqueur (amaro) and its digestive properties, and bitter greens, like beloved radicchio.

radicchio salad ingredients / IMG_4750D

group photo: salad ingredients (minus the microgreens)
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

Last month, I spent a few days in Venice (Venezia) and ate radicchio every day, raw or cooked. All the varieties were available at the store where I usually shop for vegetables, which made me happy. In recent years, I have been able to obtain radicchio from some vendors at farmers' markets in California,3 and when that happens I always make a point of thanking the farmer for growing a beloved vegetable. 

While the round, wine-red radicchio di Chioggia is the most common salad variety, I sometimes find the burgundy-flecked variegato di Castelfranco.

radicchio salad / IMG_4771D

before the final tossing
(placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO)

With their delicate sweetness, Fuyu persimmons, now in season, and great in salads, provide a lovely contrast to radicchio. The other ingredients contribute to the salad's flavor and texture profile.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon

Ingredients:

  • 2 ounces / 56 grams radicchio (variegato di Castelfranco or radicchio di Chioggia)
  • 2 ounces / 56 grams leaf lettuce
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams carrot (1 small carrot), clean weight
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams microgreens4 of choice (sunflower, kohlrabi, arugula)
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams Fuyu persimmon (about 1/2 of a medium persimmon)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • A splash of sherry vinegar + 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, possibly homemade OR 2 tablespoons vinaigrette
  • 1/2 ounce sweet blue cheese, crumbled

Chop the clean radicchio and leaf lettuce and place into a bowl.

Scrub the carrot  and scrape its surface to remove a thin layer of skin. Grate the carrot using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater. Add the grated carrot and the microgreens to the bowl.

Core and thinly slice the persimmon, then add to the bowl.

Sprinkle the salt on the salad then distribute the mayonnaise or vinaigrette on the surface. Toss gently and thoroughly.

Sprinkle the blue cheese, toss again, plate and serve.

Serves 2

1 The book on the publisher's website and a review of the book on the NY Times.
2 Fernet-Branca website, one ad and another one
3 From briciole's archive: Savoy cabbage and radicchio and radicchio and sweet corn
4 This page explains the differences between sprouts and microgreens.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela

or launch the insalata di radicchio e lattughino con carota, micro verdure e cachi mela audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

 The roundup of the event.

FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

salad,leaf- lettuce, carrot, radicchio, mayonnaise, microgreens, persimmon

recipe: radicchio and leaf lettuce salad with carrot, microgreens and persimmon

| Simona

Print Friendly and PDF
 

carrot, radish and turnip salad with microgreens / insalata di carote, ravanelli, rape e micro verdure

| Simona

jump to Recipe

carrot, radish and turnip salad with sprouts / IMG_3234

pretty salad for one

Hippie Food by Jonathan Kauffman1, our current Cook the Books Club selection, offers a wide historical view of nutrition in recent decades, with a particular focus on foods that moved from being consumed by a relatively small number of people to becoming mainstream. Each chapter introduces a varied cast of characters each of whom has contributed one or more threads to the complex tapestry Kauffman weaves as he describe the evolution of eating habits from the 1960's to the present.

As with a previous Cook the Books selection, The Food Explorer by Daniel Stone, the interest is in obtaining a historical view of what we observe in the present and may even take for granted, like organic certification. This reader sometimes had difficulty keeping in mind all the names and who did what. My suggestions would be to read the book in small bites.

Although I have lived in California for 25 years, I spent my childhood and early adulthood in Italy, so I don't have firsthand experience of the events described in the book that predate my move. The situation in Italy was different from that in the US. For example, Italians have always been serious about their bread, buying it fresh almost daily from a neighborhood bakery. I have never experienced the "plastic bread" described in the book. I do remember, however, when whole-wheat bread (pane integrale) became more readily available, as the health benefits of whole grains became better known.

salad turnips / IMG_3241

salad turnips are a favorite spring crop

The book contains no recipes, but mentions a lot of foods, cookbooks and recipes. The inspiration for me came when early on, the book talks about alfalfa sprouts. I have eaten sprouts (germogli) occasionally, though I am not a regular consumer. Microgreens2, on the other hand, have become a favorite salad ingredient, and I am fortunate I can get a variety of them at the farmers' market. The book also talks about farmers' markets and organic certification and my dish takes advantage of both.

Our farmers' markets have remained open during the shelter-in-place period so I have maintained access to fresh, locally grown produce and the precious smiles of our farmers, quite visible even behind masks. Although shopping at the market is not the festive social occasion it used to be, I am grateful I can do it and don't mind abiding by the rules that make us all (farmers and customers) safe.

carrots, radished, salad turnips sprouts / IMG_3249

fresh ingredients make a tasty salad

I buy carrots, radishes and salad turnips by the bunch, then, once I get home, I cut off the greens from all of them and use those in other dishes. I admit I am still learning to appreciate carrot tops: they have a rather strong grassy flavor that I must dilute with other greens. The Persian dish Kuku Sabzi (herb and green frittata), described in a recent post3,  is perfect for making use of the greens mentioned above plus fresh spinach (spinaci). 

One great characteristic of carrots, radishes and salad turnips is that they last a few days, unlike their greens, which wilt fairly quickly. This is particularly important for me as I am the only root vegetable eater in the household, which explains why the recipe is for one. Of course, it can be easily multiplied to nourish all the people around your table.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Carrot, radish and turnip salad with microgreens

Ingredients:

  • 4 ounces / 113 grams of a combination of carrots, radishes and salad turnips, possibly organic, clean weight [see below]
  • 1/2 medium ripe avocado
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, possibly homemade
  • A pinch of fine sea salt
  • 1 ounce / 28 grams microgreens of choice (for example, sunflowers, broccoli, arugula)

Scrub carrots well and scrape surface to remove a thin layer of skin. Scrub radishes and salad turnips and trim the tails.

Grate the root vegetables using the extra-coarse side of a hand grater. Combine to get a total of 4 ounces / 113 g. The number of units depends on their size and also on your taste: for example, more carrots mean a sweeter salad, while more radishes will give your salad more of a bite. 

Scoop the avocado meat into a small salad bowl or onto a plate. Add the mayonnaise and salt, and mash well. Add the grated vegetables and toss well, then mound them in the middle.

Distribute the microgreens around the root vegetables and serve. Toss again before eating.

Serves 1

1 The author's website and a review of the book on the NY Times.
2 This page explains the differences between sprouts and microgreens.
3 My recent post featuring a personal version of  Kuku Sabzi (Persian herb and green frittata)

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

insalata di carote, ravanelli, rape e micro verdure

or launch the insalata di carote, ravanelli, rape e micro verdure audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

CtBThis is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

Souper Sundayslogo And I am contributing my fruit salad also to Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays, a weekly event created by Cook the Books club co-host Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

The roundup of the event.

salad, carrot, radish, turnip, microgreens, avocado

recipe: carrot, radish and turnip salad with microgreens

| Simona

Print Friendly and PDF