This salad of sharp and/or bitter greens is cut with a sweet-ish dressing made with port wine as part of the base, along with roasted almond oil to link to the nuts and the microgreens. If you can’t find the broccoli greens, use some others, but the broccoli micros from New Natives have a wonderful sweet and nutty flavor cut with a bit of sharpness that is perfect here. This salad would be good with rich foods or simple dishes such as a roast chicken cooked with little other than salt and pepper, some oil or butter rubbed on and maybe thyme. It will also play well with roast winter squash dishes.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups escarole, palest leaves, torn into bite-sized bits, washed and spun dry
3 cups frisée, dark perimeter trimmed away with scissors, washed thoroughly and spun dry, then cut into bite-sized bits using scissors, discarding the stem
3 cups arugula, large stems removed and discarded, washed and dried
1-2 bags broccoli (or other) microgreens
1 cup olive oil fried Marcona almonds or roasted California almonds, roughly chopped
½ cup, or to taste, of a slightly (or more than slightly) creamy and sweet blue cheese such as Gorgonzola dulce, Fourme D’Ambert, Bleu D’Auvergne, a younger Stilton, or the like, crumbled or thinly sliced whatever will work best for distributing among salads
Flaky crunchy salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Port Wine Salad Dressing
METHOD:
In a large non-reactive bowl, combine the escarole, frisée, and arugula. Drizzle with enough dressing to moisten the greens and gently toss to coat. Add in half the sprouts and gently toss to combine. Hands work best for this.
Distribute the salad amongst four chilled plates. Scatter the cheese over the plates evenly, followed by the nuts. Drizzle with a little more dressing, then add poufs of the remaining sprouts to each salad, and then finish with salt and pepper.
Serve right away.
Chef’s Notes: You could change the dressing by using hazelnut or pistachio oil, and use the nuts that match the oil. Other cheeses could work, or you could find some pâté/mousse made with port and smear some onto toasts and serve with the salad. Paper thin slices of pear would work in season as garnish here as well.
Serves: 4
Source: Chef Andrew E Cohen
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