In addition to being delicious, dates are rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. They are also high in fiber, which has many benefits for gut health and weight management.
This recipe for Winter Chicory Salad with Kumquats and Date Dressing, weds sweet dates with kumquats and bitter greens, offset by tangy orange juice; pecorino adds salt and sharp flavor, and pistachios provide an extra salty crunch. The salad is also very beautiful to look at. It was sent to CCSA as part of a series of emails from our resident chef, Dr. Linda Doody. She began sharing her extensive collection of favorite recipes with friends, family, and the CCSA team as a means of maintaining connections during the COVID-19 pandemic and it has since become a company tradition.
“Food is a necessary component to life. People can live without Renoir, Mozart, Gaudi, Beckett, but they cannot live without food.”
– Grant Achatz
Winter Chicory Salad with Kumquats and Date Dressing
Traci des Jardins, Food & Wine Magazine (December 2018)
Ingredients
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 Tbsp sherry vinegar
- 3 Tbsp fresh orange juice
- 1 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
- 2 cups kumquats, sliced into ⅛-inch rounds, seeds removed
- ½ cup dried pitted dates, thinly sliced (medjools are recommended)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 Belgian endive leaves, sliced (~1 cup)
- 2 cups bright yellow frisée leaves
- 2 cups packed fresh arugula
- 1 cup packed fresh mizuna
- 1 cup sliced Treviso or Chioggia radicchio
- ½ cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1 Tbsp fresh mint leaves, cut into thin strips (optional)
- ½ cup roasted salted pistachios
- 4 ounces pecorino Romano cheese, shaved with a Y-shaped vegetable peeler (~2 cups)
Instructions
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk together olive oil, sherry vinegar, orange juice, shallot, 1 Tbsp kumquats, and 1 Tbsp dates until blended. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Place remaining kumquats and dates in a large bowl. Reserve and set aside 6 Tbsp vinaigrette; drizzle remaining vinaigrette over the kumquat mixture. Add endive, frisée, arugula, mizuna, radicchio, parsley, and mint (if using); gently toss to coat. Season with remaining ½ teaspoon salt and remaining ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- To serve, divide salad evenly among 6 plates; drizzle 1 Tbsp of the reserved vinaigrette over the top and around each salad. Garnish with pistachios and shaved pecorino Romano cheese
Notes
Traci des Jardins, chef-owner of the now closed Jardinière, Commissary, and Arguello restaurants in San Francisco, has always been very interested in that balance between sweet, acid, and salt.
Belgian endive, a salad green of the chicory family, is a tightly wrapped cylindrical head, pale yellow in color, with a slightly bitter taste.
Frisée (or curly endive), a salad green of the chicory family, looks like a tousled head of dark lacy ruffles sprouting from a pale-yellow core.
Mizuna (or Japanese mustard), a salad green of the cruciferous family, is a cross between arugula and mustard. It has feathery, serrated edges, a glossy surface, and a mild peppery taste. If not available, substitute arugula, young mustard greens, or tatsoi.
Radicchio, a member of the chicory family, has a structural sturdiness and distinct bitterness that balances the sweeter, more delicate lettuces with which it is often combined. Chioggia, the most common variety, grows in round heads of wine-red leaves with bright white veins; Treviso grows in elongated, rather than round, heads.