A beautiful salad of bitter greens and tart cherries is a great accompaniment to a rich meat entree. It is also a healthy lunch salad with the addition of sunflower seeds for protein. Either way you will love this Tuscan salad on an Autumn Day.
Tuscan Greens Salad with Sunflower Seeds and Tart Cherry Vinaigrette
Pair bitter Italian greens like radicchio and kale with a tart cherry vinaigrette for a super easy and healthy salad. You could also add dried cherries,and sunflower seeds for a well-rounded meal.
Ingredients
- 6 - 8 leaves Swiss Chard stemmed, thinly sliced
- small head Radicchio cored and thinly sliced
- 6 - 8 leaves Tuscan Kale stemmed and thinly sliced
- 1 cup sunflower seeds toasted
- 1 can tart Montmorency cherries pitted and drained (fresh or dried cherries work well too)
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons Montmorency Tart Cherry juice concentrate
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon clover honey
- ¼ cup Sunflower oil cold pressed
Instructions
- In a small glass bowl, whisk mustard, salt, pepper, cherry juice, balsamic, and honey until well combined. Slowly drizzle in sunflower oil until emulsified. Note: For an extra special touch you can reduce the cherry juice to a syrup before adding to the vinaigrette.
- Toss chard, radicchio and kale together. Stir in sunflower seeds and dried cherries. Drizzle dressing over salad and toss well. Serve immediately.
Jeanmarie Kapp
Good morning. Looks lovely! Just how bitter are the greens and can or should I substitute?
homemadeitaliancooking
Hi Jeanmarie! Thanks! The Radicchio is the most bitter tasting of the greens I used. You can substitute a crunchy cabbage or bok choy (ok, not Italian but still good). If you don't like kale and chard, it would probably work with just romaine lettuce.