A Beautiful Fall Salad

salad math

I was a cashier at a specialty grocery store in Portland, OR while I was in college (if we ever meet in person ask me to tell you about the time I met Michael Pollan). Thanksgiving was always the busiest time of year and the store was slammed for the entire week before. It was kind of fun, we all worked together ringing up and bagging these huge orders…until one night the registers went out. The store’s owner just happened to be shopping at the time, it was all very exciting.

After working in grocery stores for a few years, I noticed pretty much everyone buys the same foods to cook and eat on Thanksgiving. There is something quite comforting to me about each family adding their own spin on dishes that we’ve all eaten as many times as we’ve sat down at the table on the last Thursday in November.

For most, it’s a beige, soft, carb-heavy meal which is all well and good, but it can be a little one-note. I always like a little punchy, crunchy experience to break up all of the beige. I know that salad on Thanksgiving is a mildly controversial topic, and I am firmly pro salad, especially if it’s a looker like this one. But by no means is this salad only for a holiday or celebration.

The crunch of bitter radicchio and toasted almonds, creamy goat cheese, juicy sweet persimmon, caramelized squash, and butter toasted almonds are very welcome on my plate any time they are in season. Yes, I said BUTTER TOASTED ALMONDS.

This recipe is flexible enough to switch up to suit your tastes and I share my ideal salad equation below. Salad Math, if you will.