A Seasonal Vegan Gluten-free Salad to Impress!

It is so rich in different flavours but ooh so good too! It is a combination of raw foods & grilled foods, like grilled red witlof & grilled radicchio leaves, mingled with a pink grapefruit & maple syrup dressing, topped with a toasted walnut crumble, served with pink grapefruit pieces & fried smoked tempeh rounds! Delish! :) A very festive vegan & Gf salad! The more grilled bitter leaves go so well with the more sweeter pink grapefruit maple syrup dressing!

A salad to impress!!! xxx

Recipe: For 2 persons, with seconds

Ingredients:

** For the pink grapefruit & maple syrup dressing:

juice of 1 big pink grapefruit = 150 ml to 200 ml

4 tablespoons maple syrup, grade C

10 grins of finely milled black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of Maldon sea salt

** For the grilled red witlof & grilled raddichio:

2 medium red witlof, cleaned & big hard white parts removed

1 head of radicchio, outer 2 leaves & hard white bottom removed, cut into 2 & then into thicker wedges & each wedge leaves took off, to grill them all separately!

sunflower oil

black pepper

Marinating the grilled red witlof & grilled radicchio, after grilling, in that tasty pink grape fruit maple syrup dressing : 60 ml of that dressing

** For the rest of the salad:

1 big pink grapefruit, peeled & cut into wedges, then into 2, peel, white parts & pits removed

125 gr of smoked tempeh, cut into thicker rounds sunflower oil to fry the smoked tempeh rounds in

1/2 cup of walnut pieces, toasted into a hot pan on medium fire, until fragrant & browned on all sides, toasted ( Do not burn the walnut pieces!!! ) When the nuts are a bit less warm, place into a food processor & pulse until it resembles a crumble: very finely!

2 medium normal white witlof, cleaned & big hard part in the interior removed shreds of that raddichio, a few shreds torn up

Method:

1. Cut your 2 normal white witlof finely but not too fine. Shred a few radicchio leaves into smaller pieces. Mix these up nicely. This will form the middle & base of each plate.

2. Make your dressing. Take a smaller bowl & add the freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice. Add 4 tablespoons of maple syrup. Now, add 10 grins of finely milled black pepper & 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Whisk together with a smaller whisk. Taste! It has to taste yummy & a bit more sweet but not too sweet. You still must taste the pink grapefruit! Pour this dressing in a fitted jam pot with fitting lid & set aside. Do not place it into the fridge!!!

3. Preheat your grill pan on high. Smear your radicchio wedges & your red witloof wedges in with sunflower oil. You do this easily this way with a silicon brush. When your grill is very hot, place your wedges of the lof onto the hot griddles. See that every leaf is grilled well. Do not let them burn!! Grill on each side well until grilled, warmed & cooked through. It only takes a few minutes on each side!! Test a few. Place all the grilled pieces together in a big bowl. Now, pour 60 ml of that tasty fruity pink grapefruit maple dressing over it all. I added 8 grins of finely milled black pepper to it. Mingle well with 2 large spoons. Leave it for a few minutes.

4. At the same time, fry your smoked tempeh rounds in some hot sunflower oil, on both sides, for a few minutes until browned on both sides. 5. Now, instantly, plate up 2 plates! I used 2 longer white clean plates & placed onto each plate the raw mixed white witlof & radicchio shredded leaves. Then, I placed the grilled red witlof & radicchio mix over the top, in a mountain shape. I topped that with the toasted walnut crumble. I served my 5 pink grapefruit pieces around the center & placed onto ech plate 5 thicker smoked tempeh pieces, neatly besides the pink grapefruit bits. When my husband & I devoured our tasty salad, we added more of that tasty dressing over our salad: you need to do that when you are starting to eat the raw bottom of this powerful fabulous seasonal salad! Vegan! Gluten-free too! :) Serve at once with a loved one! xxx

You can also find this tasty recipe here on my blog: http://sophiesfoodiefiles.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/vegan-gluten-free-grilled-raddichio-red-witlof-in-a-pink-grapefruit-maple-dressing-topped-with-toasted-walnut-crumble-pink-grape-fruit-parts-smoked-tempeh/