While salads may seem like a dish best enjoyed on a hot summer day—perhaps poolside with a glass of lemonade in hand—winter vegetables make for hearty salads that will have you eating your greens all year long. In the cooler months, we see ingredients like chicory , pomegranates, apples […]
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While salads may seem like a dish best enjoyed on a hot summer day—perhaps poolside with a glass of lemonade in hand—winter vegetables make for hearty salads that will have you eating your greens all year long.
In the cooler months, we see ingredients like chicory, pomegranates, apples, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, and more come into season. Whether you shred up a combination of these fresh greens for a side salad or toss them into a hot pan for a wilted warm version, the options for crunchy and flavor-packed winter dishes are endless.
This wintry wedge combines buttermilk, lemon juice, and black pepper for a bright dressing, topped with pomegranate seeds and fresh chives. For a warm side, heat a cast iron and char some radicchio, which boast a bitter flavor that turns a bit sweet when cooked. This warm radicchio salad is topped with ricotta salata, a firm and sliceable style of ricotta, a drizzle of honey to amp up the sweetness, and crushed pistachios for texture.
Waiting around for Brussels sprouts to roast can take far longer than you may want to spend on a simple side dish. If you haven’t tried the vegetable raw and shredded, consider this salad, which mixes pecorino and tangerines—it’s the perfect recipe to start you off. Or, if you’re in to meal prepping, roast a big batch of Brussels sprouts at once before storing them in the fridge to toss into salads like a charred Caesar that combines sprouts and crisped kale with romaine hearts. Find all of our favorite salad recipes to make with winter ingredients below.
Wedge Salad with Buttermilk Chive Dressing and Pomegranate Seeds
Who doesn’t love a salad you can eat with a knife? A garnish of pomegranate seeds and minced chives brings the colors of the holiday to the plate.
Kale, Persimmon, Maple, and Walnut Salad
This salad from Cafe Gratitude’s executive chef and featured in the Cafe’s cookbook, Love is Served, is perfect for cold months, with pomegranate, maple, and walnuts all coming together on a bed of kale under a blanket of balsamic dressing. The combination of fresh, crisp greens and sweet walnuts and dressing make this a delightfully cozy salad and a perfect way to start meals and gatherings of any size.
Grilled Treviso Radicchio Salad
The bitterness of the charred radicchio is balanced with a generous drizzle of spicy-sweet honey and wisps of salty cheese. If you can’t find treviso, use any kind of radicchio, hearts of romaine, endive, or escarole. More is more with this salad so go to town with the toppings.
Roasted Beets with Tahini
“Even if you don’t like beets, you’ll love this salad,” promises Denver chef Alon Shaya. “The nutty flavor from the sesame in the tahini pairs well with the earthiness of the beets.” Shaya suggests adding Aleppo peppers for a spicy kick or substituting orange juice for lemon to add more sweetness.
Charred Caesar Salad
This delicious charred Caesar salad from the Peninsula Beverly Hills is roasty and toasty in the very best way. Dressed with a pepper anchovy dressing and topped with croutons, it’s a perfect indulgent lunch or stay-at-home date night dish.
Fennel, Almond, and Pecorino Salad
When he’s cooking in the wild, Elias Cairo, head salumist of Olympia Provisions in Portland, likes to make a heartier salad using ingredients that stay beautiful even if they get banged around a bit in the cooler.
A dinner party of bold, salty tapas gains an element of freshness from this slightly sweet, crunchy salad created for us by chef Ryan Pollnow of Aatxe restaurant in San Francisco. You’ll have a bit of leftover vinaigrette for your next salad.
Citrus Salad with Spiced Vanilla Syrup
This easy fruit salad looks especially striking made with multiple varieties and colors of blood oranges and grapefruit, but it’s just as delicious with a single kind of each. You’ll have enough syrup leftover for flavoring sparkling water or lattes.
Crab Posole Salad
The ocean flavor of Dungeness meets earthy hominy in this twist on the Mexican soup posole, from chef Aniedra Nichols of Elway’s Cherry Creek restaurant in Denver. “Dungeness crabmeat has a natural orange-red hue from the shell that makes the salad look vibrant,” she says. You could also use shrimp, scallops, or fat flakes of Pacific cod.
Chicory Salad with Pickled Squash
Chefs Jaret Foster and Mona Johnson of Tournant catering in Portland created this bright, tart salad as a counterpoint to a rich Thanksgiving dinner. Whole parsley leaves are tossed with mixed chicories, slices of pickled winter squash, and an apple cider vinaigrette for nice palate-cleansing acidity.
Roasted Kabocha Squash with Farro and Mustard Greens
We love the play of savory-sweet flavors and big textures in this hearty winter salad from Rocky Maselli of A16 Rockridge in Oakland—and his foolproof technique for cooking farro.
Candied Pecan, Pear, and Spinach Salad
A little corn syrup is the secret to keeping the candied nuts in this salad from crystallizing. (And they make a great quick appetizer or gift from your kitchen, too.)
Apple-Fennel Salad with Walnuts
Annabelle Breakey likes to use La Tourangelle walnut oil, which you can find at well-stocked grocery stores, for this fresh salad.
