This salad is our favorite way to enjoy chicories when they are in season on Lummi Island. Chicory come in all sorts of rich hues, textures, and flavors. They are known for being bitter, however we choose to grow and eat varieties that are the least bitter. This salad balances that minor bitterness with zingy pickled red onions, salty parmesan, and roasted hazelnuts. If you don't have hazelnuts or parmesan, try subbing in walnuts and blue cheese.
Don’t stop eating chicory at this recipe! It is the perfect complement to a citrus, avocado, and fennel salad and it is hearty enough to stand up to a Caesar dressing too.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
Two medium red onions
1 cup rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon Salt
1/3 - 1/2 cup whole, raw hazelnuts
4 oz parmesan
1 10 oz bag of chicory mix
Instructions
Wash and spin your chicory and place it in a salad bowl.
Slice two medium red onions crosswise and, in a medium bowl, top them with 1 cup of rice wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon salt. Mix it around and let it sit for 15 mins.
Meanwhile, roast your hazelnuts at 350 degrees F for ~10 mins, just until fragrant and toasty. Give them a quick toss half-way through baking to ensure even toasting. Let them cool on the pan or a plate.
Stir and toss the onion mixture again, trying to submerge the onions in the vinegar. Let sit for another 15 mins. They should start to soften a bit and become flexible.
Assemble Your Salad
Once the nuts are cool, chop or crush them roughly and sprinkle over the prepared chicory. Next, take a handful of onions and squeeze them out and sprinkle them on the salad. Add as many as you like. Dress the salad with a few teaspoons of the pickling liquid and good olive oil, and some black pepper. Finish the salad with some shaved or grated parmesan and toss to coat. Taste and adjust with some more pickling juice or olive oil, as needed.
You won't use all the pickled red onions, which is a good thing because they'll keep in your fridge for a couple weeks and are delicious on other salads, tacos, soup, eggs, sandwiches, dinner, ... you get the idea. You can find all the ingredients for this salad, except for the parmesan, on our farmstand.