What a crazy, busy few months it’s been. I’m loving my new position at a fancy grocery store in SW Portland. I’m a demo cook so I’m cooking almost every day. All the recipes are good. A few have been great. This is one of the great ones.
Radicchio salad with Beans, Feta, Frisée and Pistachios
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup infused olive oil of your choice (or make your own*)
2 15 oz cans of white beans, drained and rinsed
1-1/2 t kosher salt
1 head radicchio, thinly sliced (not mandolin-thinly sliced, knife cut will do)
1 head frisée, chopped (if needs be, substitute a roughly equal amount of any shredded green - kale, Brussels sprouts, etc)
1 small red onion (or half a big one), small dice
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (reserve some for garnish)
1 c raisins or dried cranberries (Medjool dates, chopped, MIGHT also do. Try it and let me know.)
8 oz feta (I used French feta but any will do — if it’s very salty, use less salt on the beans)
1/3 c pistachios, roasted and salted or not. Rough chop
Add the juice of one lemon and the infused oil* to the beans. Set aside.
Toss the greens - radicchio, frisée, and most of the dill.
Gently mix the beans with a slotted spoon and spoon the beans over the greens. Set the bean juice & infused oil aside — you’ll need it in a minute.
Add the rest of the salad elements; raisins, onion, crumbled feta & pistachios, and moisten (if needed) with the bean juice/oil. Taste and salt as needed.
Toss gently and serve.
* To make infused oil, put a 1/2 cup of good olive oil in a small pan. Add to it the zest of one lemon, 1/2 t red pepper flakes, 3 cloves smashed garlic and 10 peppercorns. Cook on LOW until the garlic starts to brown. Remove from heat and let stand a few minutes. Strain while still warm and pour over the drained beans and lemon juice
