Crisp radicchio salad

College students don’t get nearly enough vegetables in their diets. When we’re cruising for quick-fix lunches we often fall for carb-heavy meals that make nap-time sound irresistible during class. Pre-make this crisp and vitamin-rich salad to give yourself an energy boost.

Radicchio is an oft-overlooked vegetable: Despite disguising itself as red cabbage, radicchio has a very unique and biting flavor that adds a real kick to this dish. Each cup provides you with a healthy serving of vitamins C and K and antioxidants.

Ingredients

Salad

1 head radicchio, chopped

1 Fuji apple, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup fresh curly parsley, minced

1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

2 stalks green onion, chopped

Dressing

1/3 cup lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons worth)

3 tsp lemon zest

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

In this dish, radicchio’s somewhat bitter flavor is perfectly balanced with the tang of creamy lemon dressing and fresh chopped parsley.

Be sure to finely mince your parsley leaves: Large pieces of curly leaf parsley will overwhelm this salad mix.

If you find that the natural flavor of the radicchio leaves is a touch too bitter for your liking, take the edge off by quickly sauteing them in butter with some minced onion. You can also try tossing this recipe with some whole-wheat penne pasta to make it a full dinner entree.

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, shallot, salt and pepper until combined. Quickly whisk in olive oil until well-distributed. Whisk Greek yogurt into the mixture until dressing is thick and smooth.

Transfer dressing into a small sealable container and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Chop radicchio, apple, parsley, carrot and green onion and toss in a bowl. Add chickpeas and toss again.

Top each salad serving with a drizzle of chilled dressing and garnish with additional parsley leaves.