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Jim Dixon wrote about food for WW for more than 20 years, but these days most of his time is spent at his olive oil-focused specialty food business Wellspent Market. Jim’s always loved to eat, and he encourages his customers to cook by sending them recipes every week through his newsletter. We’re happy to have him back creating some special dishes just for WW readers.
Nearly all of the lettuce we eat during winter grows in the deserts of Southern California and Western Arizona, a feat of modern agriculture made possible only by taking too much water from the Colorado River, one of the continent’s most endangered waterways. Farming the Imperial and Yuma valleys has been an environmental nightmare ever since the first canal was built in 1901, and climate change is only making it worse. But cold weather salad eaters can skip the planet-despoiling lettuce and still get a bowlful of leafy goodness by switching to radicchio.
The deep red chicories, developed by farmers in northeastern Italy, reach their peak during the winter. And while radicchio can be hard to find elsewhere, local growers call the Pacific Northwest the Veneto of America because it grows so well here. Lots of stores carry the round heads called Chioggia, but you can find other types in better produce departments. And radicchio keeps for weeks in the refrigerator, so don’t be afraid to grab a few heads when you find the good stuff.
You can tame radicchio’s bitterness with a few tricks. Soaking the cut leaves in cold water for 30 minutes or longer works, as does combining them with other flavors like the apple and cabbage in this salad. The garlic, fish sauce, cheese, and mayo in the pungent, slightly creamy Caesar-like dressing also counter radicchio’s bitter bite.
Radicchio, Cabbage and Apple Salad
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher-style sea salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder*
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1-2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano, optional
- 2 cups thinly sliced radicchio
- 2 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
- 1 apple, cored and sliced**
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
*The garlic powder makes the dressing quick and easy, but you could use a couple of cloves of finely chopped fresh garlic.
**Cut the apple into quarters, then cut out the core. Cut each quarter in half lengthwise, then slice thinly crosswise.
In a large salad bowl, make the dressing by stirring together the vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic powder and fish sauce, then adding the olive oil and stirring to emulsify. Add the mayo, and don’t worry if there are a few small clumps left no matter how much you stir. Add the Parmigiano and stir again, then add the radicchio, cabbage and apple. Toss well, grind on as much black pepper as you like, and eat.