Winter Salad of Chicory, Orange, Pomegranate & Walnuts

January 30, 2014 by Laura Haugen 13 Comments

Can you taste these colors? Feel this brightness? When winter starts to feel drab and dark — around January — I like to find seasonal ingredients to make a vibrant and cheery salad.

Hello, baby chicories!

Foraging at the supermarket, I found these chicories, swathed in a package of three and tucked gingerly in a bin under purple tissue paper. I could tell these were delicate little creatures eager to come home with me (don’t worry, I really don’t talk to my produce much), but I wondered… What ARE chicories, anyway? I don’t think I’ve had them before, unless they are the same as Belgian endives — which they really look like — in which case, are Belgian endives just chicories born in Belgium?

Whatever their provenance, chicories, I discovered, are quite lovely with citrus and nuts. So here’s a winter salad of chicory, orange, pomegranate and walnuts, and a simple vinaigrette sweetened with pomegranate syrup (if you don’t have this, a dollop of honey will do).

And with this, I’m adding new “Salad” and “Soup” categories to my recipe index. Happy winter foraging, everyone.

Winter Salad of Chicory, Orange, Pomegranate & Walnuts

Serves 2

• 1 chicory, base removed, leaves washed & dried and cut into thirds
• 2 small oranges, top and base cut off, side peels sliced off and cut into round slices, and white cores in middle removed
• 1/2 cup walnuts, slightly crumbled
• Seeds of 1/2 pomegranate
• Vinaigrette: 1 tsp. red wine vinegar, 1 tsp. pomegranate syrup, salt & pepper (mix these ingredients first, then whisk in oil), 2 Tbs. olive oil

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