If you have room for one more dish on your Thanksgiving table, I nominate this one. A crunchy, colorful salad is often what’s missing on the menu, a contrast to all the rich, creamy, brown food that Thanksgiving is usually about. As we know, but sometimes forget, the holiday is a harvest celebration (although where I grew up, in Dallas, it was more about football). A salad with persimmons, radicchio, grapes and walnuts is autumn in a bowl, and of course a few nuggets of blue cheese will only improve it.
Salad friendly: Buttermilk Blue
I chose the aptly named Buttermilk Blue, a raw cow’s milk wheel from Wisconsin with a tangy sour-cream flavor. I buy it at Whole Foods. Other good options: Point Reyes Farmstead Original Blue, Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue or Hook’s Little Boy Blue.
Little Gem Salad with Radicchio, Persimmons, Candied Walnuts and Blue Cheese
The candied walnut recipe is from Kokkari: Contemporary Greek Flavors by Erik Cosselmon and Janet Fletcher (Chronicle Books). You can make the walnuts several days ahead. If you do, store them in an airtight container and hide them.
Candied walnuts:
1 cup walnut halves
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of sea salt
Vinaigrette:
1 small shallot, finely minced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (or part olive oil, part walnut oil)
Little Gem or other lettuces, enough for 6
2 Belgian endives, sliced crosswise
½ head radicchio, torn into bite-size pieces
1 large Fuyu persimmon, halved and shaved with a mandoline or very thinly sliced
2 dozen seedless red grapes, halved
3 ounces blue cheeese, crumbled
Make the candied walnuts: Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan of boiling water, blanch the walnuts for 1 minute, then drain in a sieve. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cloves and salt. Add the walnuts and toss to coat them evenly with the spice mixture. Arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool completely.
Make the vinaigrette: Put the shallot and vinegar in a bowl along with a generous pinch of salt and several grinds of black pepper. Let stand 15 minutes to soften. Whisk in the oil. Taste and adjust the balance.
Put the lettuce, endive, radicchio, persimmons and grapes in a large bowl. Add enough dressing to coat lightly and toss to coat. Taste for seasoning. Add the blue cheese and toss gently. Add as many candied walnuts as you like, breaking them up a bit by hand, then toss again and serve.
Serves 6