Radicchio & Orange Salad with Avocado

I love winter salads as much as I do summer produce.

We all know my love for bitter greens, like Treviso, Castelfranco (hard to find in NJ) and Radicchio.      

They are wonderful, hearty bitter things, that can bully any dressing or heavy cheese.

They pair perfectly with winter citrus, and I use a lot of both during the lean months (sounds like I live on a prairie).

If you are lucky enough to find castelfranco (a chicory variety), then please buy it, I will be jealous, because I have to go to the farmer's market in NYC to buy it (20 miles away).

Here, I found beautiful, fresh, just in radicchio heads, and bought a few.  

I sliced it thinly, and made a salad with walnuts, parmesan and dates (a la Martha Stewart), and the next day, I used what I had:  1 small radicchio head.....a navel orange, chopped dates, a ripe avocado, and pistachios.

Add everything into a big bowl.

Season the salad first with sea salt and squeeze the orange juice left from the rinds over the salad components in the bowl.

I made my standard vinaigrette:  About 2 tbsp of wine vinegar, 1 tsp honey, and 2 tbsp of olive oil.  I never measure, just eyeball it, you can't go wrong.

Dress the salad in the bowl and toss just before serving and transfer to a platter.
Scatter chopped pistachio nuts on top.

This is a winner, and pretty enough for the holidays.