Frisee with Walnuts and Balsamic-Sherry Vinaigrette

Part of Sally Schneider's Easy Menus for Holiday Entertaining
December 15, 2001

Adapted from A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider (Artisan, 2001). Copyright 2001, Sally Schneider.

Serves 4

A Guide to Improvising
Tender greens with somewhat assertive flavors, such as peppery arugula and watercress or bitter endive, young dandelion, or the Herb Salad mixture (from page 415), go wonderfully with sweet citrus fruits like oranges, mandarins, and blood oranges, ripe pears or crunchy apples, and figs. Roasted nuts bring out the sweetness in the greens. There are endless possible variations on this theme. One of my favorites is arugula, blood oranges, and roasted pine nuts. Or, for an easy main-course luncheon salad, combine frisee, quartered ripe figs, and walnuts, then top it with thin sheets of prosciutto or smoked goose breast.

• 8 cups (about 12 ounces) trimmed, cleaned, and dried peppery or bitter greens such as frisee, arugula, watercress, Belgian endive, or radicchio
• Fruits, such as
• 1 medium ripe pear or apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 4 ripe figs, cut into quarters
• 2 navel or blood oranges, peeled and sectioned
• 3 mandarin oranges, tangerines, or clementines, peeled and sectioned
• 8 kumquats, sliced crosswise into paper-thin slices
• Sherry Vinaigrette:
  • 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons water or juice from sectioned citrus fruits
  • Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 to 4 tablespoons coarsely chopped roasted nuts, such as pine nuts, pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts

1. Put the greens in a large bowl and scatter the fruit over them.

2. In a small bowl or a jar with a lid, combine the sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar, salt, olive oil, and water. Stir or shake vigorously to emulsify. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss to coat, seasoning liberally with pepper.

3. Scatter the nuts over the top. Serve at once.

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