Here’s a wilted salad main dish to keep us healthy and warm during these cold months. The vinaigrette has typical Moroccan flavors of cumin, coriander, lemon and paprika. The cayenne pepper is just enough to add a lingering kick but please scale back if you do not enjoy it. Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic Vinegar really brightens up the vinaigrette and balances the bitter greens in the salad. While we used an ultra premium olive oil, another idea is to use Lemon Olive Oil or the Blood Orange Olive Oil to really enhance the citrus flavors. Both would be superb.
The dressing is then tossed with bitter salad greens and sprinkled with chickpeas, feta cheese and preserved lemons. We have used escarole but any bitter green would taste great such as frisee or even chicory. The preserved lemons are optional but quite delicious and provide a great tangy flavor.
This recipe was inspired by the Bitter Greens, Carrot and Chickpea Salad with Warm Lemon Dressing that appeared in Cook’s Illustrated February 2017 issue. One of the many things I love about our products are how easy it is to substitute them for ingredients in other recipes to create a new or enhanced dish. In this particular instance, we substituted our Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic Vinegar for the lemon juice which provided a sweetness to help counteract the bitterness of the greens. We also added preserved lemons to the recipe to give an extra special lemon kick.
Ingredients
Vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons Olive This! Ultra Premium Olive Oil
- 1/3 cup Olive This! Sicilian Lemon Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or more if you really like spicy
- salt & pepper
Salad
- 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon Ultra Premium Olive Oil
- 3 carrots, peeled and shredded
- 3/4 cup dark & golden raisins, chopped
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 10 cups escarole, or any bitter green
- 1/3 cup mint leaves, chopped
- 1 1/2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- 1/4 cup preserved lemons, thinly sliced, *optional
Directions
Whisk all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a bowl until emulsified. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss the chickpeas with 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette and a pinch of salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots, raisins, and almonds and cook, stirring frequently, until carrots are wilted. About 4-5 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
Add half of remaining vinaigrette to the pot, then add half of greens and toss for 1 minute to warm and wilt. Add remaining greens and mint followed by remaining vinaigrette and continue to toss until greens are evenly coated and warmed through, about 2 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer greens to serving platter, top with chickpeas, preserved lemons and feta cheese.
Enjoy!
Have a comment? We’d love to hear from you. Have you tried this dish? Do you have a variation that you think others will enjoy? Leave us a comment below.