Frisee, Radicchio, and Escarole Salad with Citrus Dressing
on Oct 14, 2019, Updated Dec 22, 2023
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When you are serving up a rich main course, a bitter greens salad is the most amazing counterpoint.
I love escarole with a weird, fiery passion. And I love radicchio and endive and frisée other bitter lettuces. I know they are not everyone’s cup of…tea/lettuce. But I think when you are serving up a rich main course like brisket or slow-cooked teriyaki beef tips or lamb stew, an acerbic salad filled with strongly flavored greens like this recipe is the most amazing counterpoint.
It kind of keeps bringing your mouth back to a striking point and keeps your tongue on its toes so that every bit of the deeply savory dinner is appreciated anew. This is a slightly deep thought. I am a slightly (slightly) deep food thinker.
Table of Contents
Frisee, Radicchio and Escarole Salad with Citrus Dressing: When you are serving up a rich main course a bitter greens salad is the most amazing counterpoint.
How to Make Frisee, Radicchio and Escarole Salad with Citrus Dressing
In this salad, you have a festival of sharp, bitter lettuces tempered with a tart dressing, tempered yet again with a bit of sweetness from the honey and orange juice.
- First, you have the radicchio, with its beautiful purple and white calico coloring. If you can find Treviso radicchio, that’s a treat!
- Pile of fluffy frisée lettuce. I adore frisée salads, the kind you get in a bistro.
- Then some escarole — find your escarole, light green and tender. Not too intense. The bigger, more mature escarole I save for cooking, where it mellows, and oh, I love it so.
- A pile of very thinly slivered red onions. Really, the thinner, the better. I don’t know exactly why very thinly sliced onion is so much more gorgeous and delicious in a salad, but it really is — if you are a mandoline person, now is the time.
- Dress and toss.
Cheese or No Cheese on Salad?
Now you have a choice, and it’s an important one — feta or no feta? Here’s how to decide — if your main course has cheese in it, probably no feta. If you have a vegan at the table, no feta. If your main course is Asian in origin, probably no feta. And if your main course is American or Mediterranean or just very simple, then consider adding the feta. It’s fabulous in this salad, though by no means necessary. Another possible addition: Homemade Croutons.
Variations and Tips
When my kids were little, this would not have been the salad for them. Even now, they prefer a milder salad. BUT they will eat it, and again, when there is a lot of deep savory stuff on the table (roasted meats, mashed potatoes), I think in the deep recesses of their food brains, they understand why these bitter-ish lettuces have their place. If you were to want to temper this salad, you could use half of the lettuces listed, and then add a few cups of slivered romaine lettuce to soften it up.
What to Serve with Frisee, Radicchio, and Escarole Salad with Citrus Dressing
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Frisee, Radicchio and Escarole Salad with Citrus Dressing
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (preferably grainy)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 medium head radicchio
- 1 small head escarole
- 1 large or 2 smalls heads frisée lettuce
- 1 red onion (halved and very thinly sliced)
- ¾ cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, orange juice, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper.
- Quarter the radicchio, cut out the core, and slice it very thinly. Slice the escarole crosswise into very thin ribbons. Slice or tear the frisée into small pieces. Place them in the bowl with the dressing and add the red onion. Toss to combine. Add the feta if desired, and toss again.
So Good!! I had bought all those salad greens yesterday as I was craving a good salad.
Today I was looking for a dressing to compliment it and found your site.
I used your recipe and added sliced mandarin oranges to the salad because we needed to use them.
That dressing enhanced the salad; I will happily use and share your recipe to others.
I am now looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thank you.
Absolutely delicious! I made it without cheese for a seder and it was perfect!
Wow I love to read and definitely going to try this recipe. Thanks a lot for that.