Delicious and Fresh Chicory Salad Recipe

Are you tired of using the same old ingredients for your salads? Lettuce base, tomato, onion, bell peppers … we’ll bet that your taste buds are getting bored just thinking about it.

It’s time to freshen up your salad routine with a new ingredient. What new ingredient is that? Chicory. 

“What’s that?” you may ask. Well, wonder no more. We’re here to give you a rundown on chicory plus a super tasty chicory salad recipe that you can make in less than 10 minutes. It’s almost spring, after all – the season of growth and renewal – so let’s freshen up your meals with a unique, nutritious, and often overlooked salad ingredient.

Keep reading to discover why you should add chicory to your salad today!

What is Chicory?

Chicory is a plant that can be used as a medicinal herb, a flavor additive, or a leafy salad base. In foods, chicory leaves are often eaten like celery or used as a salad base. The roots and leaf buds can also be boiled and eaten, in addition to the leaves. Chicory can also be also used as a cooking spice, as well as added flavoring for foods and beverages. It’s possible that you’ve come across this plant without knowing it if you’re a coffee drinker, for coffee mixes often include ground chicory to enhance the richness of the coffee.

What’s the Taste Profile of Chicory?

Chicory is often described as bitter, especially when eaten raw. When making a chicory salad, the best and tastiest approach is to pair chicory with both something sweet and something rich. For something sweet, think of an orange or mandarin, shaved apples and pears, dried cherries and figs, candied nuts, or just a good dose of honey or maple syrup to your salad dressing. For something rich, think of creme fraiche, sour cream, yogurt, assertive cheese, poached or boiled eggs, smoked fish, shredded chicken, fried bacon, or even tahini.

You can get creative with your chicory salad recipe to find the taste profile you like the best. The possibilities are endless!

Five Journey’s Delicious Chicory Salad Recipe

Try out this chicory salad recipe for a unique blend of sweet, spicy, and all-around-good-for-you deliciousness. 

Prep Time

10 minutes or less

Ingredients

• 2 chicory leaves 
• 4 Little Gem lettuce leaves, separated and washed
• Handful of watercress, washed
• 1 bunch of red spring onions
• 6 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 mandarin oranges
• 2 tbsp of fresh orange juice
• ½ tsp of Dijon mustard
• ¼ cup of walnuts (optional)
• ½ an avocado (optional)

Preparation

• Separate and wash the chicory leaves. Cut to desired size.
• Separate and wash the Little Gem lettuce leaves. Cut to desired size.
• Finely slice the red spring onions.
• Peel and separate the mandarin oranges into wedges.
• Combine all vegetables with oil, juice, and sauces.
• Add optional ingredients on top of your chicory salad.

Want Meals That Taste Great While Keeping You Healthy? Keep in Touch with Five Journeys

We on the Five Journeys nutrition team are always sharing our favorite recipes. Chicory salad is just the beginning. We blend the latest nutritional science with absolutely mouth-watering dishes to make sure you and your family are eating your best. Just try our recipes, and we bet you’ll experience the following benefits:

• More energy throughout the day
• Better moods and a brighter outlook on life
• A tougher immune system (and fewer colds)

But what if you want recipes that are personalized to your body and its nutritional needs? There, too, we’ve got you covered.

At Five Journeys, nutrition is a core pillar of our functional medicine treatment plans. We know that without the right fuel, your body can’t achieve optimized health. To look at the situation another way, a poor diet is going to lead to a long list of unpleasant symptoms. If you’re feeling bloated, fatigued, anxious, or chronically ill, then it is time to work with a functional medicine practitioner to figure out what’s going on.

You can bet that during our sessions, we’re going to investigate your diet and recommend some super tasty replacements for regular meals that are leaving you feeling bogged down. 

Try out our chicory salad recipe above, browse our list of other recipes, or schedule a free consultation call with one of our specialists to talk about other ways to improve your diet!