For lovers around the world, Valentine’s Day is a giddy time to celebrate shared love with hearts and flowers, candy and candle-lit dinners. But what about those of us who are love-less? The ones who lost love, were betrayed in love, or for whom love never even bothered to show up. You know, the kind of love stories that leave a bitter taste in your mouth. What do we celebrate when everyone wears their hearts on their sleeves this Valentine’s Day? We celebrate bittersweet love. That once-possessed, been-there-done-that love story that is no longer and it’s alright. We may be in between lovers or just ok with being happily single, because we can turn lost love’s bittersweet taste into delicious satisfaction. For that reason I created my Bittersweet Love Salad.
They say it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. True, though it can be hard to believe when you are in the throes of a breakup, estrangement, or divorce. That’s exactly what happened to me a decade ago. I was fresh out of a marriage-gone-wrong and not feeling very excited about the looming V-Day. But, I was designing a menu and recipes for my Valentine’s cooking class and needed inspiration. After overdosing on all the sticky romantic sweetness of classic dishes, I was about to give up. My heart just wasn’t in it—my heart was broken. I was feeling angry and reluctant to celebrate love—bitter and mad at stupid-cupid for getting me into this mess. Then it hit me—I could create a dish that honored the downside of love. The edgy, other-side-of-amore with lots of flavor and emotion. This could be fun! I set out to choose my ingredients with care—and a pinch of revenge, a dash of malice—but all in the name of good fun and good food.
The first thing I chose were some bitter lettuces to pair with sweeter flavors. My first choice was arugula, the beloved spicy green that’s delicate but also asserts its personality in any situation. While thought of as a leafy green, arugula is actually from the brassica family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) and helps detoxify the body. Its peppery flavor has a natural cooling effect that will work to cool off my temper, I thought. I mixed the arugula with some milder speckled and red leaf lettuces and a little frisée—a curly member of the chicory family with a delicious bitter edge. Bitterness can actually be good medicine since studies have shown that bitter-is-better for health and wellbeing. I also added some lovely spears of red endive for more color and bitter sweetness.
I was seeing red, so it was only natural that I added Blood Oranges to the salad as a no-brainer during February citrus season—and since their vibrant crimson, almost blood-red flesh draws red juice when cut. These juices were running deep—and right into the salad dressing to turn it a beautiful ruby hue. Blood oranges hail from Sicily and are prized citrus fruit with a red-blushed rind and tart sweetness unlike any other fruit. They have an intense aroma and tangy dolcezza with hints of raspberry, which I happily enhanced with raspberry balsamic vinegar in the dressing. The abundant vitamins and minerals in blood oranges may not heal a broken heart, but they will keep it beating and healthy for the next love story! I also gleefully added thin slices of red onion to the salad for an appropriate amount of vengeful bite, and shaved radishes for a riotous, kick-in-the-pants punch that I wish I’d given my ex. All in all, it’s not only a bright, colorful salad perfect for Valentine’s Day, but a flavor-forward, match-made-in-heaven mix of bitter, sweet, and spicy ingredients for an uplifting dish all winter long.
Now, instead of eating your heart out, you can eat my beautiful Bittersweet Love Salad. I guarantee that the lingering taste of love in your mouth will not be bitter. It will be a delicious, bittersweet flavor to savor loves past and loves future—or maybe just the love of bitter greens and fruit ; ) Love yourself today and Happy Valentine’s Day to all!
BITTERSWEET LOVE SALAD
Insalata Dolceamaro
My Valentine’s Day salad celebrates long-lost love and bittersweet memories with a riotous mix of tangy blood oranges, peppery arugula, red onion, and spicy radishes. Never has bitterness tasted so good! © 2019 Deborah Dal Fovo. All rights reserved.
- Prep Time: 30m
- Total Time: 30m
- Serves: 2
- Category: Antipasti - Appetizers, Appetizers, Contorno - Side Dishes, Fruit, Recipes, Salads - Insalate, Verdure - Vegetables
Ingredients
- 2 blood oranges
- 1 red endive
- 3 ounces/85g arugula leaves (or mixture with other bitter lettuces), washed and dried
- 1/4 small red onion, peeled
- 4 radishes, washed and trimmed (I used breakfast and watermelon radishes)
- 1 tablespoon raspberry white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
- Kosher or fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Supreme each orange in the following manner: using a sharp paring knife, cut about 3/8-inch off the top and bottom of each orange, reserving ends. Set an orange with a flat side down on the cutting board. Starting at the top of the orange, position the blade of the knife in between the orange flesh and ring of white pith inside the rind. Slice downward to the base of the orange, curving the knife around the fruit to cleanly cut off the pith/rind in a single vertical strip. Turn the orange slightly and repeat the motion in strips around the fruit until the rind and all white pith is removed. Repeat procedure on other orange.
- Cut out the orange segments by slicing in between the thin membrane walls surrounding each one to release the fruit. Alternatively, you can cut the orange in half down the middle then into thin, half-moon slices.
- Arrange the orange segments/slices in a single layer on a plate and season lightly with salt to bring out the natural sweetness of the fruit. Scrape orange juice accumulated on the board into a small bowl. Squeeze the juice from the reserved orange rinds into the bowl and set aside.
- Trim ½-inch off the stem end of the endive then separate the leaves and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add the arugula (and other lettuces, if using) to the bowl.
- Cut the red onion thinly into fine strips. Slice the radishes into very thin rounds using a sharp knife or mandolin. Add the onions and radishes to the lettuce in the bowl.
- Make the salad dressing by seasoning the blood orange juice in the small bowl generously with salt and pepper. Add the vinegar and whisk to dissolve salt. Pour in the olive oil in a thin stream while whisking to create a light emulsion. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Sprinkle the ingredients in the salad bowl lightly with salt and pepper and toss together delicately using your hands. Add the orange segments to the bowl then pour the dressing around the edges of the bowl (not on the lettuce). Toss the ingredients together quickly with your hands to lightly coat with dressing. Lift portions of salad out of the bowl and mound on individual plates, arranging oranges and radishes decoratively. Serve immediately.
