warm radicchio salad with mozzarella, candied walnuts and avocado

Steven got me an issue of The Complete Tassajara Cookbook: Recipes, Techniques, and Reflections from the Famed Zen Kitchen by Chef Edward Espe Brown. It has more than 300 vegetarian recipes without a lot of color pictures. I’m still absorbing this book.

The same weekend that I started perusing Tassajara, we got a few beautiful organic radicchio heads. I adapted this salad from the book.

I love bitter flavors; Steven, not so much. He likes sweet more than me. This salad is a compromise after the Rainier cherry almond cake. Now we’re back in flavor-balance.

Much to my surprise, cooking the radicchio didn’t relieve the bitterness. If anything, it might have intensified it. It tasted good, but this is definitely a recipe for people who know what they’re getting into.

warm radicchio salad with mozzarella, candied walnuts and avocado

2 small heads radicchio, washed, cored and cut into 2 inch pieces
½ cup walnuts
1 tsp sugar
1 fresh mozzarella ball, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp mixed herbs (savory, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme)
1 fresh white onion, sliced thin
Stems of white onion, chopped fine
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 ripe avocado, pit and shell removed, sliced
freshly ground black pepper
red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
5 cherry tomatoes, halved

Begin by toasting the walnuts in a nonstick pan for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle sugar and a bit of salt over them. The sugar will melt right away and glue to the walnuts. Set aside in a small bowl.

Marinate mozzarella slices in half of the oil along with red pepper flakes and a sprinkle of salt and black pepper.

Place remaining olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and onion and sauté for approximately a minute. Add radicchio, salt, black pepper and balsamic vinegar and sauté until radicchio wilts. Transfer to a serving platter. Top with cheese, tomato, avocado and walnuts. This makes a very flavorful and colorful dish.

Happy Independence Day Brazil!