This salad can easily go vegetarian by substituting four poached eggs for the chicken or enjoy it as a vegan dish with grilled tofu. Just as a weeknight recipe should be, this one is designed for minimal cleanup, too.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 head radicchio, any damaged outer leaves removed, cut into quarters top to bottom
- 1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and sliced into ½-inch-thick rounds
- 1 large or 2 small heads Romaine lettuce, cut in halves (if small) or quarters (if large) top to bottom
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, no thicker than 1-inch
- ¼ cup olive oil (extra-virgin is not necessary here), divided
- 1 Asian pear or crisp apple, cored and sliced thin
- ¼ cup Sweet & Spicy Pepitas*
- 1 cup unsalted pepita seeds (not roasted)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼–½ teaspoon cayenne
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Preparation
First make the dressing: Whisk together the syrup, mustard and vinegar in a medium-sized bowl. Slowly drizzle the olive oil while whisking to emulsify. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Or shake everything together in a lidded jar.) Set aside.
Heat a cast-iron grill pan over medium-high heat while you prepare the vegetables and chicken. In a medium-sized bowl, coat the radicchio wedges with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the wedges on the grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until the outer edges are charred, but the wedges are still intact.
In the same bowl, coat the sweet potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the potato rounds to the grill pan and cook 8 to 10 minutes, flipping occasionally, until the slices are soft and well-marked with grill lines. Using the same bowl, coat the Romaine wedges with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill 2 to 3 minutes, turning to char the edges. Move the lettuce, radicchio and potatoes to a cutting board. Trim away the tough core of the radicchio quarters and roughly chop the leaves into bite-sized pieces.
In the same bowl, coat the chicken with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Grill 4 to 5 minutes per side, until cooked through but still juicy. Remove to cutting board, let rest for 5 minutes. Slice against the grain into ½- inch-wide slices.
Divide radicchio, sweet potatoes, Romaine and Asian pear among 4 plates. Drizzle with half of the dressing. Arrange the chicken on top and drizzle with additional dressing. Sprinkle with Sweet & Spicy Pepitas.
Serves 4 for dinner.
*Sweet & Spicy Pepitas
These crunchy nuggets are a flavorful ace up your sleeve: They’ll give almost anything a tasty boost. Adjust the cayenne to your own heat preference. I like mine spicy, so I use a generous ½ teaspoon cayenne; ¼ teaspoon would lend a more subtle kick.
Preheat oven to 250° F. Place pepitas, brown sugar, salt and spices in a medium bowl and stir to distribute evenly. Drizzle the melted butter over the seeds and toss again. Turn the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until browned and aromatic. Remove and set the pan on a rack to cool for at least 20 minutes; seeds will crisp as they cool. Place in a jar with a lid. Keeps up to 2 weeks.
