Wilted Radicchio in Warm Salads

How do you make the salad course new again? Warm it up! Tossing a salad with a warmed salad dressing penetrates the vegetables releasing the flavors of the ingredients. With its bold, assertive flavor and sturdy texture, radicchio is a natural for cooking—sautéing, roasting, broiling or grilling—and tossing with a warm salad dressing. The bitter flavors in radicchio are mellowed by these quick, direct-heat cooking methods. Much like spinach, radicchio can be cooked very quickly. Easily turn your salad into the main course by adding warm cooked chicken or flank steak marinated in a separate serving of the same dressing.

Serve a warm salad any time of year, but especially in late winter, when lighter meals are appreciated… or in late summer, when cooler evenings call for something slightly warm. As with a cold salad, add the warm dressing and toss right before serving. Just remember that these salads should be slightly warm, never hot.