Seared Bitter Greens Salad with Roasted Beets, Spiced Pecans & Roquefort

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 45 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 4 Servings

One way of dealing with salads while speaking the language of winter is to cook them. I once had a fantastic grilled romaine salad with a super creamy vinaigrette, sort of a cooked take on the classic wedge salad. Then, last weekend I had another cooked salad; this one with big half-rounds of griddle-seared purple radicchio, chopped walnuts, and mushrooms. I liked the idea of a salad with a flash-cooked winter green like radicchio, but didn’t dig the walnuts and mushrooms.

Ingredients

2 medium beets
4 small heads Treviso radicchio
4 heads Belgian endive
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup pecans
2 tablespoons honey
Pinch cayenne
1/4 cup walnut oil
2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
3 ounces Roquefort cheese, divided
1/2 pound mixed greens, spinach or arugula

Instructions

Place a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375° F.
Rinse the beets and trim off the leafy tops (reserve for a recipe using beet greens). Wrap each beet loosely in aluminum foil and place in the oven. Roast until tender and easily pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and take off foil. Set aside to cool.
When cool enough to handle, slice off each leaf end. Push off the skin using your thumbs. If the skin doesn't easily strip away, the beets probably need more time in the oven. Try another 10 minutes.
When peeled, slice the beets into large bite-sized pieces.
While the beets are roasting, slice the radicchio and endive lengthwise in half and arrange on a plate or small roasting pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, the 2 tablespoons honey, about 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pour this mixture evenly over the radicchio and endive. Set aside.
Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts, honey, and cayenne. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, until the nuts give off a toasty scent and brown slightly. Remove from the skillet carefully with a fork and arrange across a plate or piece of parchment paper.
Make the dressing by combining the oil, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons crumbled Roquefort in a jar and shaking vigorously, or whisk to emulsify in a small bowl.
Heat a large grill pan or skillet over high heat, or prepare a grill. Place the radicchio and endive cut-side down and cook, undisturbed, for about 4 minutes (less if grilling directly over fire).
Toss the mixed greens and the beets with the dressing and divide evenly between four serving plates. Place two halves of radicchio and two halves of endive on each plate. Sprinkle with the nuts and Roquefort, dividing evenly between the four plates. Top with more cracked pepper and sea salt, to taste.