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Curly Head Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
by Karen Berman
 This fun salad gets its “curly head” from the lettuce patch, in the form of curly endive, which has delicate, ever-so-thin, twisted leaves.
(It’s also known as frisée, which is French for “curly.”) The mouth and eyes are made with orange segment “smiles” and grapes. And you make the nose with a homemade crouton. You can use a whole head of curly endive, or frisée, if you can find one and don’t mind its slightly bitter flavor. The elegant salad is nice enough for company—whether you make individual “heads” or just toss it in a large bowl.
| Orange Vinaigrette |
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Juice of 1 orange |
| 1 |
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teaspoon white wine vinegar or white balsamic vinegar |
| 1 |
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teaspoon Dijon mustard |
| 1 |
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teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon or 1 1/4 teaspoons dried tarragon |
| 3 |
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tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil |
| Salt |
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| Freshly ground black pepper |
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| Salad |
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| 4 |
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(4-inch) round rolls such as bulky, Kaiser, or brioche rolls |
| 1 |
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tablespoon olive oil |
| 1/4 |
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teaspoon fresh tarragon leaves |
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Salt |
| 1 |
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(5- to 7-ounce) bag mixed salad greens that includes endive, or frisée, washed and dried |
| 1 |
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orange, peeled, pith and seeds removed, and separated into segments |
| 16 |
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grapes, cut in half lengthwise |
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| 1. |
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To make the Orange Vinaigrette, whisk the orange juice, vinegar, mustard, and tarragon in a small bowl. Add the olive oil and whisk to combine thoroughly. Season to taste with salt and pepper if you like. |
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| 2. |
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To make the salad, preheat the broiler. With a sharp knife, cut a circle in the top of each roll, leaving an edge of about 1/4 inch, and make a bread “bowl” by pulling off the plug of bread in the center. Reserve the plugs for the croutons. (You should get most of the bread out, leaving a deep bowl with only about half an inch of bread at the bottom.) Set the bread bowls aside. |
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| 3. |
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To make croutons, brush the bread lightly with oil, sprinkle with the tarragon, and season with salt. Cut into 1/4-inch pieces and place on a baking sheet. Set them under the hot broiler for 3 to 4minutes, or until light-golden, being careful not to burn them. Remove from the oven and let cool. Set aside 4 croutons. Meanwhile, set aside a small handful of curly endive, 4 orange segments, and 8 grape halves. |
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| 4. |
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Toss the remaining greens with the cut orange pieces, remaining grapes, and cooled croutons. |
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When you are ready to serve, place the bread bowls into 4 salad bowls. Toss the salad with the Orange Vinaigrette and divide between the bowls. To make curly “hair,” tuck a little of the reserved curly endive into one edge of each bowl, so that the leaves stick out over the bread a bit. In each bread bowl, position 2 reserved grape halves under the hair as eyes, a reserved crouton as a nose, and a reserved orange segment as a mouth. Place the salad bowls on the table so that each person can look down at a salad face. (If you have more salad than will fit into the rolls, you can serve it on the side.) |
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Yield: 4 Salads
This recipe is from Friday Night Bites, by Karen Berman (Running Press © 2009). Photograph by Steve Legato. The book is a collection of themed dinners, crafts and activities for families with children. This recipe is from the dinner called “Silly Hat Night.”
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