This bitter, peppery salad with hints of bright, refreshing citrus will satisfy your craving for sunshine. Radicchio brings a fresh feel to this colorful salad, while quick homemade croutons and toasted walnuts will satisfy your comfort food needs.
During the winter and early spring months I like to get as much citrus as possible. It’s probably because it’s the perfect bright spot in the sea of potatoes, onions and parsnips I usually see around this time of year.
This recipe makes the most of citrus, using the segments as part of the salad and the juice as the base of an easy vinaigrette. Radicchio adds a nice bitterness and deep red-purple color, while some arugula adds a peppery bite.
How to make homemade croutons
Yes, you could just buy pre-made croutons at the store, but making them at home is almost as easy.
To make rustic homemade croutons, start with good bread (I chose sourdough). Here’s what to do:
- Tear the bread into small pieces
- Drizzle with a little olive oil on a baking sheet and sprinkle the bread with a little salt.
- Bake them in the oven until nicely toasted. Voila!
Take your time to toast the nuts!
So it’s worth roasting the nuts. The main reason is that this pulls out some of their oils, giving them an even nuttier flavor. And then there’s the added benefit of giving a richer color for prettier end results, and making them crispier for added texture. win-win-win.
Proposals and Substitutions
I used grapefruit, oranges, and lemons in this recipe, but almost any type of citrus would work. If you’re only using tart fruit, I’d recommend adding a tablespoon or so of honey to the vinaigrette for a touch of sweetness to offset the radicchio’s bitterness.
For the other ingredients, feel free to use goat cheese instead of feta, swap the chopped walnuts for almonds, or use watercress or spinach instead of arugula. The great thing about salads is that they’re mostly just blueprints that you can tweak as you see fit.
Make it a meal!
I ate a lot of salad while developing and photographing this recipe. Although the homemade croutons give it a bit of power, this recipe probably won’t fill you up. So if you want to make a meal out of it, try adding a protein like cannellini beans, toasted tofu, diced chicken breasts, or some shrimp.
More great salad recipes
- Mixed green salad with honey mustard, eggs and toast
- Spring vegetable salad with mint pesto
- Green bean salad with lemon and dill
- Thai noodle salad with peanut sauce
- Lentil salad with summer vegetables
Radicchio salad with citrus fruits
Any type of citrus will do for this recipe—you only need about 2 cups of whatever you have on hand. It’s best to enrobe the citrus, which means slicing off the rind of the citrus and then slicing the individual fruit segments from the inner membrane.
ingredients
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3 slices (about 2 cups) Sour Dough Breadtorn into bite-sized pieces
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1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oildivided
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3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
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1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
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1/2 Cup chopped walnuts
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2 citrus fruits, like orangelemon and/or grapefruit
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4 cups chopped Radicchio or 1 small head, deseeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
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2 cups arugula
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1/4 Cup crumbles feta cheese
method
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Preheat the oven:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
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Prepare croutons:
Place the bread pieces on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with 1/4 cup olive oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and bake, tossing bread halfway through onto baking sheet, until golden and crispy, about 15 minutes; let cool down.
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Roast nuts:
While the croutons are in the oven, toast the nuts in a medium skillet over medium-high heat on the stovetop until fragrant and toasted, about 8-10 minutes. Stay near the pan and stir the nuts occasionally. They can go from roasted to burned in seconds. Let cool down.
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Peel and segment the citrus (aka Supreme):
For each fruit, cut about 1 inch off the top and bottom, leaving some of the flesh exposed. Place the fruit cut-side down on a cutting board.
Starting at the top, use a sharp knife to slice off the side of the fruit, slicing away the skin and pulp and exposing the flesh. Then carefully cut out the citrus pieces over a bowl to catch the juice. You should have about 1 cup of citrus segments.
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Squeeze the juice:
After all the segments have been removed, squeeze the juice from the leftover fruit into the same bowl. Drain the juice from the segments and store separately.
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Make the citrus vinaigrette:
In a mason jar or small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of the reserved citrus juice with the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add pepper and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. If using a jar, close the lid and shake vigorously for a few seconds until emulsified. If using a bowl, beat the ingredients together.
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Assemble the salad:
Place the radicchio and arugula in a large bowl. Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss until evenly coated. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Add the croutons, walnuts, citrus chunks, and feta cheese and mix evenly.
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Surcharge:
Place in a large serving bowl for family meals or divide into individual bowls to serve.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 184 | calories |
| 15g | Fat |
| 12g | carbohydrates |
| 4g | protein |
