Chicory Salad with Dukkah-Crusted Squash, Pomegranates and Feta

A big bowl of this salad is substantial enough to be dinner, especially if you have a piece of crusty bread alongside. But it’s also a bright, crunchy side dish that would be excellent alongside roasted chicken, a rib roast, or pork chops. If you don’t have pistachios, almonds can be substituted for the pistachios.

Serves 6

 

For the dukkah:

1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds

1 teaspoon organic cumin

¼ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

5 tablespoons pistachios, finely chopped or pounded in a mortar and pestle

3 tablespoon olive oil

1 large delicata squash, cut in half lengthwise, seeds scraped and cut crosswise into ½-inch half-moons

 

For the dressing:

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

¼ cup olive oil, or pistachio or walnut oil

 

For the salad:

8 cups mixed red or green chicories, such as Treviso, radicchio, frisée, or Castelfranco, washed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces

½ cup pomegranate seeds

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Toast the coriander seeds in a small, dry skillet until they are fragrant and a whiff of smoke is coming from the pan, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a spice grinder (or mortar and pestle) and grind or pound to a powder. Put the squash slices in a large bowl and add the ground coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, pistachios and olive oil and toss to coat. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer, transfer to the oven and bake until the squash is tender and browned in spots, flipping the slices once while they roast, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

 

Make the dressing: Combine the mustard, a few generous pinches of salt and pepper, the vinegar and the oil in a tightly lidded jar and shake vigorously combine.

 

In a large salad bowl, add the chicory, cooled squash slices (and any dukkah that fell off the squash slices in the roasting process), the pomegranate seeds and the feta. Season the salad with salt and toss gently (your clean hands are perfect for this job) to combine. Though the salad is best served right away, chicory is also somewhat wilt-resistant, even when dressed.