What makes a good fall salad? Start with the greens, of course. Something sturdy and frost-resistant and a little bitter, like arugula or chicory or even mizuna, with its dandelionlike sharpness.
A few big, hearty garnishes: blue cheese, whose funky, salty, stay-in-your-mouth flavor is out of place in warm weather but somehow so comforting in the colder weather; nuts, of course — fall is their season, and there’s nothing as satisfying in the fall as a crunchy, fresh-roasted hazelnut; perhaps some dried fruit — fall and winter are a time for preserved foods, like tender blond figs.
A warm dressing is essential: a pan vinaigrette made with a handful of salty, tangy pancetta, olive oil, some shallots, fresh black pepper, a good low-acid sherry vinegar, and for a fragrant and offbeat touch, a few sage leaves.
Americans love hearty salads: The Caesar salad, with its combination of buttery croutons, cheese and a rich emulsified dressing, is as calorie-laden as a big, fat-ringed rib-eye and is by far the most popular salad in this country. This fall salad is hearty and popular too: Since we put it on the menu at Olivea two months ago, it has proved to be not just our most popular salad, but the best-selling item on the whole menu.
We make it with Calymyrna or Smyrna figs, which I find to be more tender and sweeter than the chewier and more widely available Black Mission figs. A good blue cheese is essential: Cheap blue cheeses taste only of salt and sourness; it’s worthwhile to pay good money for an artisan blue like Fourme d’Ambert or Bleu d’Auvergne or Cashel Blue.
John Broening cooks at Duo and Olivea restaurants in Denver.
Fall Salad
Serves 4.
Ingredients
8 ounces arugula or mizuna, washed and dried
1 head frisee or chicory, trimmed, washed and dried
1/2 cup blonde figs, stemmed and halved
1/2 cup roasted crushed hazelnuts
3 ounces good quality blue cheese, crumbled
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 ounces pancetta, thinly sliced and chopped
12 small leaves fresh sage (do not substitute dried sage)
1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, such as Pedro Ximenez
1 small shallot, peeled and minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Directions
Place the first five ingredients in a large salad bowl.
In a small saucepan warm the olive oil, pancetta, and sage until the oil is sizzling and the pancetta and sage are slightly crisp. Turn off the heat, add the vinegar, shallot and salt and pepper and stir. (If you have a gas stove and manage to set fire to the dressing, it will have a strong gasoline-like flavor).
Pour the dressing over the salad mixture, toss well and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately.
