By Christopher Kimball | Milk Street

The cooks at Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street make a crisp, colorful romaine and radicchio salad. They give it meaty, briny flavor from oil-cured olives and a fruity tang from pomegranate molasses. For added aroma and herbal notes, they supplement the sweet romaine lettuce with pleasantly bitter radicchio. And toss in some parsley, mint or a combination of the two. Hard-cooked eggs cut into wedges lend substance to the salad, making it hearty enough to serve as a light main course.

This crisp, colorful salad gets meaty, briny flavor from oil-cured olives and fruity tang from pomegranate molasses. It’s light and fresh, but hearty enough to serve for brunch or a light supper.

In this recipe from our cookbook, “Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year,” we supplement sweet romaine lettuce with pleasantly bitter radicchio and also toss in some parsley (or mint, or a combination of the two) for added aroma and herbal notes. Don’t forget to pull off and discard the bruised outer leaves from the head of romaine. Closer to the core, the leaves are sweeter.

Hard-cooked eggs cut into wedges lend substance to the salad. When cooking the eggs, be sure to add them to already boiling water, let them simmer vigorously, then shock in an ice bath. The eggs will emerge not only perfectly cooked, but the shells will peel away cleanly and easily.

Either whole-grain or Dijon mustard works nicely in the dressing, balancing the sweetness of the pomegranate molasses, so use whichever you prefer or what you have on hand. Orange juice adds citrusy brightness.

Plate the salad on a serving platter and top with the quartered eggs. Garnish with pomegranate seeds for extra pops of sweet-tart flavor.

Romaine and Radicchio Salad with Olives, Eggs and Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Start to finish: 20 minutes
Servings: 4 to 6
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons orange juice OR white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 teaspoons whole-grain mustard OR 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 small head romaine lettuce (about 12 ounces), cut crosswise into 2- to 3-inch pieces
1 small head radicchio (about 8 ounces), quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
½ cup lightly packed fresh parsley OR mint OR a combination, torn if large
⅓ cup pitted oil-cured black olives, chopped
2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled, each cut into 6 wedges

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the orange juice, molasses, oil, mustard, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

To the bowl, add the romaine, radicchio, parsley and olives; toss until well combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving platter and top with the eggs.
Optional garnish: Pomegranate seeds

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more recipes, go to Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street at 177milkstreet.com/ap