In her book Bitter, Jennifer McLagan admits that “a reluctance to eat bitter foods is understandable, as we all have an innate aversion to bitter tastes.” It’s true that even the bitter lovers among us (a group I belong to) eat it with a sense of transgression, as if we know we are loving a taste on the outskirts of popular opinion.
I crave bitter flavors, and if I get my hands on a particularly good head of Belgian endive or radicchio, I often find myself eating it leaf by leaf at the counter, crunching away before I even start the recipe for which the green was intended. For me, it’s not only the bitterness I love, but the more subtle inherently floral quality that always comes along with it. Smell as you take a bite, and the floral nature of the bitter is hard to ignore. This salad makes use of not only radicchio but also the tiny closed Belgian endive, another star of the bitter category. Creamy dressings are ideal for bitter greens, because they mellow out the bite but enhance the sweetness. If you don’t have preserved lemon in your refrigerator, just use a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest.
Ingredients
- 0.33 cup crème fraîche or plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon minced preserved lemon rind
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6 ounces radicchio (½ small head), roughly chopped
- 6 ounces butter lettuce (1 small head), torn
- 1 head of Belgian endive, leaves separated and cut into 1-inch slices
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 0.33 cup golden raisins
- Kosher salt
- ¼ cup toasted, chopped pecans
- Freshly ground black pepper
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Make the dressing
- Combine the crème fraîche, lemon juice, olive oil, preserved lemon rind, and several grinds of pepper in a pint-sized jar. Cover the jar and shake vigorously to combine. Taste, and add more pepper or lemon juice, if you like. The dressing can be quite thick, but if it’s not pourable, loosen it up with a little lemon juice or water. Make the salad
- Combine the radicchio, butter lettuce, and endive in a large bowl. Add about a third of the dressing and toss to coat the leaves. Taste and add more dressing, if needed. The leaves should be well coated but not soaked. Transfer the dressed leaves to a large, wide bowl or platter. Do not rinse out the bowl.
- Add the chickpeas and raisins to the bowl and sprinkle them with a pinch of salt. Top with a dollop of dressing and gently stir to coat the chickpeas and raisins before adding them to the greens. Finish with the pecans, a final sprinkle of salt, and several grinds of pepper.
