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- The salad combines bitter greens with sweet pears, sharp blue cheese, and crunchy toasted hazelnuts, creating a balance of flavors and textures.
- A simple vinaigrette made from hazelnut oil and red wine vinegar, plus salt and pepper, ties the ingredients together without overpowering the chicories.
- Serving the salad just after tossing ensures the frisée stays crisp and doesn’t wilt under the dressing, preserving the salad’s light, refreshing texture.
No matter what the season, the best salads are a balancing act of flavor, texture, and color. This stunning salad from chef Bill Telepan, New York City culinary director for Bon Appétit Management, incorporates peak cold weather produce, combining three kinds of tender chicories with juicy, crisp Bartlett pears as well as crunchy salted hazelnuts and creamy, pungent blue cheese. Hazelnut oil may not be a standard pantry item, but it’s worth seeking out for the two-ingredient vinaigrette. We especially like the rich flavor of La Tourangelle’s roasted hazelnut oil.
What are chicories?
Don’t call them lettuce: This recipe uses a trio of chicories — radicchio, frisée, and endive — to serve as the salad’s base. Though they share the same leafy, mostly green quality as lettuce, chicories are especially hearty, with an assertive, often bitter flavor that mellows out when cooked. Raw, they’re best paired with other flavors that counter the bitterness, such as the sweet pears, pungent blue cheese, and toasted hazelnuts here. While typically available year-round, chicories are at their peak starting in late fall through early spring.
Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen
- Choose ripe but firm pears for this salad; overripe pears will lack the crisp snap that’s vital to the dish.
- Of the three chicories here, frisée (aka curly endive) is especially delicate. Handle it gently to avoid bruising the leaves.
- Salty roasted hazelnuts work best to balance out the salad’s other components, but if you have raw hazelnuts on hand, you can toast them to use here — be sure to remove their skins before chopping.
