Grilled Greens Fall Salad with Citrus Dressing
Sometimes Bitter is Better. Lamenting the biting cold weather? Take it out on your salad. Grilling bitter greens brings out their sweetness, and when paired with a tender, salty, cured meat, it becomes something else entirely. This citrus dressing, or citronette, makes more than you’ll need for this recipe, but it stores nicely for tomorrow night’s salad. Our grilled greens Fall salad with citrus dressing will surely become a favorite.
Directions
For the citrus dressing
Whisk together the zests, juices, Dijon and shallots, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the honey, whisk again, then emulsify with the olive oil by adding it in a thin stream while simultaneously whisking it together. If it looks separated, keep whisking. Season to taste.
For the sliced vegetables
Heat your outside grill or grill pan (if cooking indoors) to medium-high heat. Clean grates (for the outside grill).
Arrange the endive, radicchio, squash and red onion in a single layer on a baking sheet and lightly brush with oil on both sides. Lightly season with salt and pepper on both sides just before grilling each vegetable.
Grill the vegetables in batches until charred in spots and just slightly softened, 2 to 3 minutes per side (and more like 4 minutes per side for the squash and the onion). Return to the baking sheet or a cutting board to cool slightly.
For assembly
On a large platter, arrange the vegetables and fresh lettuces (frisee and watercress) artfully. Drizzle with the dressing (about 6 tablespoons). Dollop with the cheese using two small spoons, and arrange the prosciutto among the vegetables. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.
This dish is a chorus of bitter and sweet. And an assertive creamy cheese — like it’s counterpart in this dish, the grilled greens — balances sweet and creamy notes with pungent, almost bitter notes. When choosing cheeses, select those that are creamy, but carry with them some serious character. Our favorites are young, ash-rinded goat cheeses or gorgonzola dolce. We like them young and spoonable, but a crumbly older cheese will do as well.
Make your life easier and pick out a butternut squash with a long, straight neck. The neck is way easier to peel and cut than the bulbous section. Don’t throw the rest away — scoop out the seeds from the portion you don’t use and refrigerate for some other day. It’s got loads of uses, from soups, to a substitute for potatoes in stews or home fries on the weekend.
