Fig Salad from "Plenty More"

When figs are in season and I'm popping one of those fresh and sweet treats in my mouth - I feel like a queen. There is an air of luxury surrounding the fabulous fruit and when they are at their peak, there is nothing better. Their season is short, from about late June to September - so when you see them in the store, treat yourself - even if the price tag seems a bit steep. Or, if you are really lucky, you can find a friend that has a  fig tree or grow them yourself - now that's what I call luxury.

I was at my parent's place a few weeks back and found out that, among all of the other produce that they have in their garden, they have a fig tree as well! I can't tell you how many fresh figs I ate over those 24 hours. Probably an unhealthy amount. But when I had just paid about 3 dollars for 6 figs a few days prior, I felt like a kid in a candy store just popping the figs off the tree and right into my mouth - at no charge.

While we all can enjoy this fabulous fruit in dried form throughout the year, there is no comparison to its fresh, most natural self. And the best way to eat them to enjoy their pure fabulousness is raw.

This salad from Plenty More accentuates the perfection of the raw fig by placing it alongside a mixture of fresh, bitter, sweet and nutty ingredients. I couldn't stop eating it.

The base for the salad is not your typical selection of greens. Here we essentially have two "bitter" green in the radicchio and watercress plus the added brightness of fresh basil (another summer love of mine).  While radicchio and watercress can sometimes be a bit daunting due to the bitterness/peppery-nature of the leaf, they work so well here to balance out the natural sweetness that is built into the complementary salad ingredients. They have enough backbone to stand up to the figs and roasted, caramelized onions, while adding in their own unique flavor and texture to the perfectly composed salad.

I added in some sliced pluot as well when I realized I didn't have quite as many figs as the recipe called for. And while I can say that the pluot also went really well with the salad, adding its own delicate sweetness with a hint of tartness in the skin, and if you wanted to, you could simply substitute the figs for something akin to a pluot, if figs are available, treat yourself. Motto of the month.

This salad was, to me, perfection in every bite. If I were you, I'd go out to the store right away and pick up some figs so you can see what I'm talking about.

Fig Salad
p.16 in Plenty More
serves four

Ingredients:

• 2 small red onions (7 oz/200 g)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup/50 g hazelnuts, with skin
• 2 oz/60 g radicchio leaves (about 7), coarsely torn
• 1 1/3 cups/40 g basil leaves
• 1 1/3 cups/40 g watercress leaves
• 6 large ripe figs (10 1/2 oz/300 g)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• salt and black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F/220 C.
2. Peel the onions, halve lengthwise, and cut each half into wedges 1 1/4 inches/3 cm wide. Mix together the wedges with 1 1/2 teaspoons of the olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some black pepper and spread out on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking, until the onions are soft and golden and turning crispy in parts. Remove and set aside to cool before pulling the onions apart with your hands into bite-size chunks.
3. Turn down the oven temperature to 325 F/160 C. Scatter the hazelnuts in a small roasting pan and toast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and, when cool enough to handle, roughly crush with the flat side of a large knife.
4. Assemble the salad on 4 individual plates. Mix the radicchio, basil, and watercress together and place a few on the bottom of each plate. Cut each fig lengthwise into 4 or 6 pieces. Place a few fig pieces and some roasted onion on the leaves. Top with more leaves and continue with the remaining fig and onion. You want to build up the salad into a small pyramid.
5. In a small cup, whisk together the remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar, and cinnamon with a pinch of salt and some black pepper. Drizzle this over the salad, finish with the hazelnuts, and serve.