In Living Color

Insalata di Due Tipi di Radicchio e Arancia
Two Types of Radicchio and Orange Salad

 

Today was wonderfully sunny here in Frankfurt- the sky was clear and blue and it was the first warm day of the year. And in the market hall, there were signs of spring all around as well- especially the ramps which have just come into season and were on every stall in the market today!

And then these two beautiful radicchio varieties- the red Treviso, I already know and love, but the yellow and red speckled one, called "Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco" was new to me. But not any more!

Of course, both taste more or less the same, but the small, round-leafed, yellow radicchio, is a great alternative to a regular lettuce, as it's thicker, more robust leaves offer much more "bite". Being both very slightly bitter, the orange was a great accompaniment to them, but I wanted to do something special with the dressing.

So, I took one leaf of the aforementioned ramps and chopped it very finely. One leaf is enough though milder than real garlic, it has the same pungent flavor, only fresher and milder. I used the saft from the remaining orange after carefully cutting the fillets for the salad and added 2 tablespoons of cheese curds to it. Then in went the ramps, salt, white pepper, olive oil, a hint of horseradish and a squeeze of honey. I stirred it together really well and that basically was it- ready! So simple and so delicious in combination with the sweet orange and the bitter raddichio!


I added a sprinkle of finely chopped fresh chives before serving, but otherwise left the leaves as they were... Mother Nature had done such a brilliant job preparing those wonderful radicchio's for us that I was not feeling inclined to spoil them! Instead- I simply enjoyed!