Seared Radicchio and Roasted Beets

Posted on March 29, 2018 by melsmosaic

Was looking for a new recipe for Christmas dinner and wanted something colorful. Came across this one when flipping through Bon Appetit magazine – Seared Radicchio and Roasted Beets.

Ingredients

6 medium beets, scrubbed
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
2 small heads of radicchio, cut into large wedges through root end
1 cup pomegranate juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ cup pomegranate seeds
Flaky sea salt (for serving)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450°. Toss beets with 1 Tbsp. oil on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet; season with kosher salt. Roast, tossing once, until skins are charred and beets are tender, 40–50 minutes. Let cool.
Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Cook radicchio wedges on cut sides until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter.
Add pomegranate juice to skillet; bring to a boil and cook until thickened and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar; season with kosher salt.
Tear beets open and place around radicchio; spoon dressing over. Top salad with pomegranate seeds, sprinkle with sea salt, and drizzle with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil.

You can roast the beets early to knock that off your list, since that takes awhile. That was helpful. I found that it took longer than 5 minutes to thicken the pomegranate juice.

Regardless, in the end, the recipe turned out great. It had the eye-catching red/bright colors for the evening and was delicious. And, had leftovers (which tasted wonderful). Definitely saving it for future use.

The Ides of March/Shrimp & Radicchio Salad

Posted on April 16, 2017 by melsmosaic

I have been part of a Supper Club for over a decade and we have slowed down the past couple years. But, we are coming back to life! So last month we were able to catch up with a very fun theme – the Ides of March. How did this come about? Somebody RSVP’d on this day, so why not make that the theme, even though the event didn’t take place on that day. So, anything you brought had to have an ‘I’ in it – black bean dip, skirt steak, pizza. You get the drift.

It was funny, because I thought awhile on this, because so many things I was thinking about didn’t have the letter ‘I’ in them. I was out running on the Sunday morning of the dinner with a friend who cooks a lot and we were talking about this and I was bouncing ideas off of her. I’m making this sound like I’m making a major life decision! She told me come the end of this 12 mile run – ok, worst case scenario, it’s ‘Mel’s Recipe’. Thanks, score!

Well, I ended finding a great one – Shrimp and Radicchio Salad. I think I was pretty covered there. It was so simple. I also happened to have all the ingredients already, too, except for the radicchio. I had both raw and precooked shrimp and I opted for the precooked, which made it so much easier. Made it a no-cook meal. The tang in the dressing/marinade was awesome. And that’s what was great. You just marinade the shrimp and then toss them all together with the salad.

Ingredients

1⁄2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1⁄2 lb small shrimp, cooked and drained
1 head leaves lettuce, shredded (used a big of mixed greens)
1 head radicchio, shredded
1 cup cherry tomatoes

Directions

Combine first five ingredients (olive oil – mustard) in a bowl. Stir in shrimp ***I just put all those ingredients in a ziploc and then added the shrimp. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. In a large salad bowl combine lettuce and radicchio, pour shrimp and dressing on top. Toss add tomatoes and toss again.

Also, at the dinner, we had pizza, dips (both appetizers and desserts) and quinoa. And of course some wine.

Pickled Grapes? and a salad…

Posted on November 16, 2015 by melsmosaic

New magazine, new recipe. A recent one I ripped out of Bon Appetit just had to be tested…Radicchio Salad with Pickled Grapes and Goat Cheese. What the heck do pickled grapes taste like? And it was interesting when reading through the recipe because you use black vs. red grapes.

Ingredients

½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 star anise pods (great to get in bulk, they didn’t even weigh anything, they wouldn’t even charge me at Whole Foods)
½ teaspoon fennel seeds, chopped
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice, divided
1 cup seedless black grapes, halved if large
8 cups torn or sliced Treviso and/or Chioggia radicchio
2 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
⅓ cup unsalted, roasted almonds, chopped
2 ounces aged goat cheese, crumbled (about ⅓ cup) (yeah, lactose free)

Prep

-Combine vinegar, sugar, star anise, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, 2 tsp. salt, 2 Tbsp. orange juice, and ¼ cup water in a medium bowl or glass jar; stir (or cover and shake) until sugar and salt dissolve. Add grapes and let sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes.
-Toss radicchio in a large bowl with oil, 3 Tbsp. strained pickling liquid, and remaining 1 Tbsp. orange juice; season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a platter and scatter drained pickled grapes, almonds, and goat cheese over top.