Recipes:
Escarole Salad with Ricotta Salata, Burst Grape Tomatoes, and Marjoram Vinaigrette
Chicory and Pine Nut Salad with Warm Pancetta-and-Caper Vinaigrette
Endive and Prosciutto Salad with Toasted Almonds and Parsley
Raw Fennel Salad with Anchovy-Tarragon Vinaigrette
Seared Shrimp Salad with Radicchio and Rosemary
When the holidays, with all their glorious, festive food, are over, I sometimes feel a culinary void. Winter can be a dreary stretch in New York. I love stews and root vegetables, but somehow they just bog down my mood after a while. My geraniums droop frozen on my windowsills, and my Mediterranean complexion takes on an olive pallor. I start to crave a touch of delicacy in my meals. I was never exactly sure how to achieve such a thing in midwinter until I zeroed in on what was staring me right in the face whenever I visited my market: a variety of crisp, robust greens, ones with alluring bitterness and a surprising aftertaste of sweetness. That is, the chicories, which I’ve always thought of as winter salad greens: various types of radicchio, escarole, chicory proper, frisée, endive (smooth, curly, and red-tinged), and sometimes punterelle, the long, spiky Italian chicory that I used to see only in Rome. Chicories are often sown in late summer and left to mature in the cool months. In mild climates like California’s and Florida’s, they can be harvested all winter long, so, lucky for us, here they are, elegant and waiting to rejuvenate our winter cooking. (more…)
Erica De Mane 