
Parsnip, Pear & Radicchio Salad with Blue Cheese
A wonderful vibrant salad to celebrate the arrival of Autumn. Golden roasted parsnips, sweet honey and pear and the lovely contrasting bitterness of Italian radicchio & rocket leaves.
Such a stunning salad!
My kind of salad, its vibrant, full of flavour and I love the textures.
YOU ARE WHAT YOU DIGEST AND ABSORB
Why are bitter leaves good for us?
Bitter leaves stimulate the production of digestive juices which is exactly what we need! When the bitter taste receptors on our tongues (and throughout our digestive tract) are triggered by the bitter compounds in the leaves, they send signals to the brain and digestive organs, stimulating the secretion of saliva, gastric acid, and bile. This increased production of digestive juices enhances the breakdown and absorption of nutrients from food, helping with digestion and promoting overall digestive health.
Bitter Leaf: Radicchio
Is a bitter salad leaf that is most often used in Italian cuisine. The bitterness can vary so I like to pair it with naturally sweet things like parsnip and pears. You can usually find the beautiful pink leaves in supermarket ready-to-eat salad bags like these.

Parsnip, Pear & Radicchio Salad with Blue Cheese
Ingredients
- 400 g parsnips peeled and cut into wedges
- good olive oil
- salt & pepper
- about a tablespoon honey
- 2 handful radicchio leaves torn
- 2 pears peeled, cored and cut into wedges
- 2 handful wild rocket leaves
- 100 g tangy local blue cheese
- handful toasted walnuts roughly chopped
Dressing
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey or more to balance
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c
- Fill a saucepan with cold water, add the parsnips and bring the water to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, drain in a colander and let the parsnips steam for 5 minutes.
- Add the parsnips to a lined baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well, finally drizzle the honey over the parsnips and roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the parsnips are golden.
- While the parsnips are roasting, make the dressing by mixing the olive oil and mustard well, add the vinegar and honey and mix until the dressing is thick & glossy, taste to adjust the seasoning, you might need a tad more honey.
- To serve, toss the warm parsnips with the radicchio, 1/2 the dressing, pear, rocket, blue cheese and the parsley. Sprinkle with toasted walnuts and serve with the dressing on the side. Enjoy!