Description

This radicchio Caesar salad is my love letter to radicchio, an underappreciated leafy winter veggie! It’s got tons of radicchio (duh), a sweet vegan Caesar salad dressing, and crispy panko. It’s the perfect salad!!

Ingredients

Scale

Radicchio

2 heads radicchio, chopped in chunks (320 g)
Shaved parmesan cheese for serving (optional)

Caesar Dressing

2 tbsp (34 g) mayonnaise (sub with thick yogurt)
2 tbsp (25 g) olive oil
3 tbsp (35 g) lemon juice or champagne vinegar
1 tbsp (13 g) honey
1 tbsp (13 g) capers, finely minced
2 tsp (11 g) dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/4 tsp kosher salt, to taste

Toasted Panko

3–4 tbsp (30 g) olive oil
1 cup (95 g) panko breadcrumbs

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Instructions

Prep the radicchio. Slice the radicchio head in half, remove the stem, and chop into chunks. Dump the radicchio into a large bowl, fill with ice and water and let sit for 20ish minutes. Soaking radicchio in ice-cold water significantly reduces the bitterness and makes it much more palatable!
Make the dressing. While the radicchio soaks, make the dressing. Simply add all of the ingredients into a jar and whisk to combine – taste and adjust the honey and salt to taste.
Toast the panko. Feel free to either toast the panko on the stove or in the oven. I prefer toasting the panko in the oven (it’s more hands-off), but both methods work. To toast the panko in a pan, add the panko and olive oil to a skillet and toss to coat the panko in the oil. Heat on medium heat, and let toast, stirring occasionally, until the panko is golden brown. To toast the panko in the oven, preheat the oven to 450°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Add the panko and olive oil to the sheet pan, toss to coat well, and flatten into an even layer. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes (watch it closely, it burns fast), mixing halfway through.
Dry the radicchio, assemble, and serve. Remove the radicchio from the water, drain and pat the radicchio dry on a towel, or if you have a salad spinner, use that. Add the radicchio to a large serving bowl, add half the toasted panko, pour over 3/4 of the dressing, then toss well. When you’re ready to serve, top each plate with the remaining breadcrumbs, a drizzle of extra dressing, and shaved parm.

Notes

If you want to bump the protein of this salad up, feel free to throw in some chopped roasted chicken, crispy chickpeas, or my personal favorite is to chop up my chicken nuggets in this salad!