#saladlyfe: radicchio and pear.

november vibes.

Two things that I regularly find myself overwhelmed by are cookbooks and vegetables. As I have mentioned in the past, I have an ever-expanding cookbook collection that many sane people might describe as ridiculous. On the vegetable front, I am currently a member of an abundant local farm's CSA program. This results in a giant box brimming with veg entering my life each and every week. The vegetables threaten to take over my refrigerator, my home, and my very life, unless I use aggressive tactics to keep them in check.

Once in a while these two looming forces in my home come together in just the right way, and my cookbook obsession leads me to the perfect recipe with which to combat the Vegetable Situation.

This was just such a day.

It may not be the most trendy or cutting edge, but Williams Sonoma's Salad of the Day cookbook is an old standby. I've had it for several years and it is actually one of my more frequently used volumes. Any time I find myself lacking salad inspiration I can crack it open, flip to today's date, and find an interesting salad made with seasonal ingredients. I often flip through the nearby days to find one that grabs my eye. I also really love their Healthy Dish of the Day book for the same reason. Both are approachable and eternally useful in providing a seemingly endless supply of exciting new dinner ideas. ANYway. So I was looking through Salad of the Day as per usual and this radicchio and pear salad caught my eye. Mostly because I realized that I had both pear and radicchio in my refrigerator. And also I was hungry.

Now, most of the salad recipes in the book yield servings for 4-6 or more. I may or may not have been known to go ahead and make that amount of salad for myself and I may or may not have proceeded to gorge myself like some sort of crazed weed-eater. However, sometimes such behavior just won't do. On this occasion I decided, like a sane rational adult (of all things) to create a more appropriate serving size suitable for one. So, I took the basic recipe as my Salad Muse and created my own single-serving version. It was quite autumnal, delicious, and didn't leave me up to my eyeballs in a giant vat of salad for once.

quite a moody salad, really.

Pear and Radicchio Salad 

adapted from Salad of the Day, by Georgeanne Brennan

Half a very small head of radicchio, or an appropriate chunk of a larger head, thinly sliced/shreded

Half a firm bosc pear, julienned

Olive oil to taste

Balsamic vinegar to taste

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Feta cheese and toasted slivered almonds, to serve

Throw radicchio and pear in a small mixing bowl. Drizzle/slug oil and vinegar over top, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix it up a bit. Transfer mixture to salad plate or other receptacle. Top with desired amount of cheese (recommendation: hella) and top it all off with toasted nuts. Take a trillion pics with your phone, then eat the salad as you decide which one to post on Instagram.

something like this.

Salads4Lyfe.

-Zoe Rose