As you’ve probably noticed we like to eat salads around here, but I must say at times it can get slightly repetitive by the end of each season. Now that Fall has arrived there’s a fresh selection of new produce available with a few goodies still around from late summer. I really wanted to make a grilled salad, and Ry happened to bring home some really delicious apple plums from work. So, I figured those could be the start of the salad and what better to grill along with plums than radicchio.
When I was younger I hated radicchio. My dad would always add into salads and I would always pick it out. It wasn’t until I got older, and clearly more refined (not at all), that I started to enjoy bitter greens like endive, chicories, dandelion greens and radicchio. There is something about pairing that charred and bitter flavor together that I really like, and it gets even better when you add in something sweet like the plums and aged balsamic. I also added fresh thyme, wild rice and some really sharp goat cheese to finish things up. This was a slight experiment with the pairing of ingredients, and I wasn’t totally sure how much Ry and I would like it, but it was SO good. This is definitely going to be a repeat salad here for the season, and I might even try a few other variations with different fruits and greens.
It wasn’t till I got older, and clearly more refined (not at all), that I started to enjoy bitter greens like endive, chicories, dandelion greens and radicchio.
This is a quick and easy salad to make, really just a bit of prep and then you are ready to plate up and eat. But I do want to stress, you are only trying to get some charr on the plums and radicchio, not actually cook them. You still want it to be a crisp salad, just with some charred flavor.
And, as you’ve probably noticed I used purple basil here. I tend to grow a ton of basil in our yard, because I love it, and luckily the seed mix I get has a purple variety in it. Since the other ingredients happened to be purple I decided to keep it all purple, but you can most certainly use any other variety of basil you can find.
Grilled Radicchio Salad
Ingredients
- 1 head radicchio
- 2 plums
- 1 C wild rice cooked
- 1 bunch basil whatever variety you like
- 1-2 oz goat cheese
- olive oil
- aged balsamic
- fresh thyme
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- To start off you want to get your wild rice cooking. I was aiming for about a cup or so for the two of us, but make as much as you like. Just follow the directions on the package since the cooking times can vary.
- Next, once your rice is just about done, you want to preheat your grill so it’s screaming hot. To prep the radicchio and the plums I just sliced them into thick disks and wedges. The shape isn’t really all that important you just want make sure it’s a size that you can easily skewer and flip on the grill. Coat them in a bit of olive oil and some salt and then grill them for about 1-3 mins per side. Just until they have some charr on them.
- After you’re finished grilling you are ready to plate up. I sliced up the radicchio into smaller, more bite sized pieces, then arranged it along with the plums on a plate. Next you want to sprinkle the wild rice on top and add lots of goat cheese, basil, olive oil, a generous drizzle of aged balsamic and a good bit of salt and fresh cracked pepper. That’s it. Eat up!
One thought on Grilled Radicchio Salad
If plums are still available I will try this one. Otherwise I’ll have to wait till next season.