Fall Harvest Salad With Roasted Brassicas, Fingerlings, and Radishes Recipe

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Senior Culinary Director
Daniel joined the Serious Eats culinary team in 2014 and writes recipes, equipment reviews, articles on cooking techniques. Prior to that he was a food editor at Food & Wine magazine, and the staff writer for Time Out New York's restaurant and bars section.
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Updated Aug. 29, 2018
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A robust holiday salad that can be made in advance, won't wilt once dressed, and is guaranteed to impress. . Vicky Wasik

A fancy fall salad that won't add to your holiday stress. Made with roasted brassicas, potatoes, radishes, and sunchokes plus frisee and radicchio, this dish can be prepped ahead with no loss in quality. Plus, it hardly wilts once dressed!

Why this recipe works:

  • Hearty vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, frisee, and radicchio can be prepared in advance and won't wilt quickly once tossed with the dressing.
  • Using radishes and sunchokes both roasted and raw gets lots of texture and flavor mileage out of just two ingredients.

Note: The roasted brassicas, boiled whole potatoes, and dressing can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated; let come to room temperature before finishing salad and serving. Sunflower seeds can be toasted up to 5 days in advance and held in an airtight container. Frisee, parsley leaves, and radicchio can be prepared 1 day ahead and refrigerated in airtight containers with a moist (but not wet) paper towels. Sliced raw radishes can be held in water in the refrigerator for 1 day; sliced raw sunchokes can be held in water with lemon juice in the refrigerator for 1 day. Use whichever brassicas you can find—halved Brussels sprouts would be great here in place of the romanesco if you can't find it.

Recipe Details

Fall Harvest Salad With Roasted Brassicas, Fingerlings, and Radishes Recipe

Active 60 mins
Total 90 mins
Serves 6 to 10 servings

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds mixed brassicas, such as broccoli, cauliflower, and romanesco broccoli, cut into florets (see note)

  • 1 3/4 cups extra-virgin olive oil, divided

  • Kosher salt

  • 3/4 pound radishes (about 15 large radishes), 1/2 pound quartered and 1/4 pound thinly sliced on a mandoline (see note)

  • 1 1/2 pounds sunchokes, 1 pound cut into 3/4-inch chunks and 1/2 pound peeled and sliced thinly on a mandoline (see note)

  • 1 1/2 pounds mixed fingerling potatoes (see note)

  • 2 sprigs rosemary

  • 5 medium cloves garlic

  • 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

  • 1 small shallot, roughly chopped

  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

  • 1/4 cup packed tarragon leaves, chopped

  • 2 loosely packed cups picked parsley leaves (from one bunch; see note)

  • 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, toasted (see note)

  • 2 small heads frisee lettuce, cored and trimmed of damaged leaves (see note)

  • 1 small head radicchio, halved, cored, and cut into 1-inch strips (see note)

Directions

  1. Adjust oven rack to upper and lower middle positiona. Preheat oven to 450°F. In a large bowl, toss brassicas with 1/2 cup olive oil, season with salt, and spread in an even layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Roast, rotating sheets half way through cooking, until tender and browned, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.

  2. When brassica are cooked, toss radish quarters with 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt, and arrange in an even layer on one of the now-empty rimmed baking sheets. Toss sunchoke chunks in 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt, and arrange in an even layer on the second rimmed baking sheet. Season all vegetables with salt. Roast radishes and sunchokes until each is tender and browned, about 35 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

  3. Meanwhile, put fingerling potatoes in a Dutch oven, cover with water and season generously with salt. Add rosemary and garlic and heat over medium-high heat until barely simmering. Lower heat and cook at a very gentle simmer until potatoes can be pierced with a fork with no resistance, about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly in cooking water, then drain and discard rosemary and garlic. Cut fingerlings into 1/4-inch thick coins.

  4. Using an immersion blender or standing blender, blend cider vinegar, shallot, Dijon mustard, tarragon, and a large pinch of salt until thoroughly combined and tarragon and shallot are finely chopped. Transfer to a mixing bowl and whisk in remaining 1 cup olive oil. Season with salt, if needed.

  5. In a large salad bowl, combine roasted brassicas, roasted radishes, and roasted sunchokes with potato slices, radish slices, sunchoke slices, parsley leaves, sunflower seeds, frisee, and radicchio. Add dressing and toss gently with clean hands until salad is evenly coated. Season with salt to taste and serve.

Special Equipment

2 rimmed baking sheets, immersion blender or standing blender

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
488 Calories
32g Fat
48g Carbs
11g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories 488
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 32g 40%
Saturated Fat 4g 22%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 789mg 34%
Total Carbohydrate 48g 17%
Dietary Fiber 12g 45%
Total Sugars 12g
Protein 11g
Vitamin C 180mg 900%
Calcium 163mg 13%
Iron 6mg 31%
Potassium 1589mg 34%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)