Recipe for Grilled Radicchio and Arugula Salad (with fresh cranberries) below!

The farm is quiet here at Siskiyou Seeds. While the last seed crops receive their final cleaning, the fields are laid to rest. Just a few biennial crops remain and our farmers are taking a break. The winter is respite for us here, we rest our bodies after a year of hard work. Winter is the optimal time for planning. We spend a lot of time mapping out the fields for the coming year. I miss the steady flow of fresh vegetables and I know as the soil starts to warm I will start to crave bitter greens!


The only thing left in my garden is a vibrant bed of green. Arugula tucked under its bed of row fabric. I planted this bed of arugula in September. It is growing slowly but I can still take a cutting here and there for a meal. Arugula will be the first green that I plant in 2023 as well. It is very cold tolerant. Early arugula is bright, light and sweet tasting. In comparison to the spicy dense arugula greens of summer. 

Arugula is slightly peppery and bitter. It adds a really nice texture and flavor to salad mix. I prepare it by itself into salads and use it as a replacement for basil in pesto recipes. I also really enjoy using Arugula as a wilted green in pasta recipes or cook it the same way I would mustard greens. With just a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. If you have never tried Arugula I highly recommend it. It is a garden staple and one of the easiest seeds to start growing.

Planting Arugula

You can plant and eat Arugula almost year round here in Southern Oregon.  Like other cutting greens, it is extremely easy to plant.  Prepare your garden bed and then direct sow the seeds. Plant the seeds close together about a ¼ inch under the soil surface, in rows that are 4-6 inches apart. Arugula grows very fast and depending on soil temperatures baby leafs can be cut within 25-30 days. It is a cutting greens so you can harvest about every 7-10 days. When you cut greens like salad mix, arugula or baby mustards be sure to leave the center growth node. This allows the greens to re-grow. I planted a bed of Arugula last spring. Cut it for salad many times and then let the Arugula go to seed. The seed fell onto the bed during the summer and then the bed re-grew into fresh greens in the fall.  So fun and easy. Arugula does bolt fairly quickly in hot temperatures, it can be grown in the summer but the bed turnover is much more rapid. 

Grilled Radicchio and Arugula Salad

This is a really fun salad with lots of great texture and flavor. It combines a few winter staples like Radicchio, Arugula and Cranberry to make something truly pleasurable to eat. It is even possible to grow most of the ingredients for this salad. A summer solstice planting of radicchio timed with a September arugula planting will be ready in time for cranberry season. Styrian Hulless Pumpkin seeds are also ready in the fall at the same time the chilis you grew are dried and ready for use. Sadly, we do not have the right climate for olives yet in Oregon. 

Salad Ingredients :

  • 1.5 pounds of Arugula
  • 1 Head of Radicchio
  • 1 cup fresh Cranberry
  • 1 green apple
  • ¼ cup Pumpkin Seeds
  • ¼ cup Olive Oil
  • Pinch Salt and Pepper (to taste)
  • Pinch ground Aleppo pepper (or other chili)

Dressing ingredients:

  • 1 Shallot
  • 4 cloves of Garlic
  • 2 sprigs of Parsley
  • ½ teaspoon Capers
  • 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon Maple Syrup
  • 1 teaspoon Mustard, Stone Ground
  • Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

  1. Cut and wash Arugula and allow it to dry.
  2. Cut the Radicchio into four wedges so that there is a small stem on each piece, like you might a cabbage.
  3. Baste olive oil onto both sides of the radicchio wedges.
  4. Grill radicchio, char each side of the wedge. This will take about a minute per side.
  5. Slice the grilled radicchio into thin strips.
  6. Slice apple and cranberry into thing pieces.
  7. Heat olive oil in a  1 tablespoon  olive oil in a pan. Add the pumpkin seeds once the oil is hot. Sprinkle salt, pepper and Aleppo chili flakes over the pumpkin seeds and stir.
  8. Remove the pumpkin seeds from the pan once they look toasted and are slightly puffed up. Put aside and let cool.
  9. Assemble the salad. Add the grilled radicchio to the arugula in the bowl. Top with apple cranberry and last pumpkin seeds.
  10. In a bullet blender make the dressing.
  11. Pulse shallot and garlic in a bullet blender until minced. Then add the parsley and capers, pulse until combined.
  12. Add olive oil, vinegar, mustard and maple syrup. Pulse the dressing until it becomes thick and emulsified. 
  13. Taste your dressing and add salt and pepper to your preference. You can also adjust the oil, vinegar and maple syrup quantities to your taste at this time. Blend the dressing once more after you make any adjustments.
  14. Toss the salad with dressing 30 minutes prior to serving.
  15. Enjoy!!

    ~ Written by: Taryn Hunter