I am so in love with this super simple festive salad. It takes beautiful purple-hued, bitter radicchio and tosses it in a tangy and slightly sweet dressing. Then all that’s left to do is top it with plenty of spiced hazelnuts (SO GOOD!), blue cheese, and parsley for a truly special salad! Don’t skip those hazelnuts that get roasted in a sweet and salty combo for the perfect crunchy, indulgent salad topper 🙂 They also make a great snack or charcuterie/cheese board addition!
Ingredient Highlight
Radicchio! This beautiful chicory hails from Italy and has a distinct bitterness that is a great addition to salads and is also delicious roasted/grilled. Radicchio is rich in vitamin K, which is important for bone health and helps you absorb calcium better. It’s also a great source of both lutein and zeaxanthin, two antioxidants important for eye health. One more thing! Bitter greens like arugula and radicchio help to stimulate digestion, making it a great way to start a meal.
Servings 4 People
Prep Time 10 minutes 
Cook Time 15 minutes Ingredients
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 large head radicchio, halved lengthwise, core removed, thinly sliced (about 8-10 cups)
- ½ cup crumbled blue cheese*
- ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
For the spiced hazelnuts:**
- 4 tbsp butter, melted
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 cups raw hazelnuts, roughly chopped***
- *Use good blue cheese (not pre crumbled) if you can. To make dairy-free, substitute the cheese with roughly chopped green olives.
- **This makes extra spiced hazelnuts because they are SO good for snacking or adding to a charcuterie. Feel free to cut the recipe in half.
- ***We want a kind of mix of rough and finely chopped nuts here so that the nut gets toasted without burning the sugar. If we kept them whole, the nuts wouldn’t toast all the way through. You could pulse in a food processor to make it easier!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To make the hazelnuts, in a medium microwave safe bowl, add the butter and microwave until melted. Stir in the coconut sugar, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Add the hazelnuts and stir to coat. Transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, or until nuts are toasted and sugar is darkened and bubbling (13 minutes was the sweet spot for me).
- In a mason jar with a lid, add the oil, vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, and salt and shake vigorously to combine.
- Add radicchio to a large shallow salad bowl or mixing bowl. Toss with ⅔ of the dressing. Taste and add more dressing, if needed. Keep radicchio in your shallow salad bowl or transfer to a large serving platter (my preference because then you get nuts and cheese with every serving). Top with hazelnuts, cheese, and herbs.
Items you can prep ahead (optional)
- Make the dressing
- Thinly sliced 8-10 cups radicchio
- Make spiced hazelnuts
Substitutions:
- To make vegan, skip the cheese and top with chopped green olives (castelvetrano are my favorite). Substitute coconut oil for butter to make the spiced hazelnuts
- Use pecans in place of hazelnuts.
- If you don’t like blue cheese, you could use shaved parmesan in its place. Though, I normally don’t like blue cheese and this was to DIE for!
- You could try this salad using thinly sliced romaine lettuce or kale in place of radicchio. If you aren’t using radicchio, try and find some other bitter or peppery greens to throw into the mix.
Storage:
-
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer:
- Leftover dressed radicchio tastes great the next day. Store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Hazelnuts: store at room temperature for up to 7 days or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Leftovers + Repurposing:
- This salad is delicious eaten straight out of the fridge, topped with more cheese and nuts. It makes a great side to any protein. I love it with leftover salmon and a side of toasted baguette or bread topped with leftover romesco or butter.
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