Walnut & Roquefort Salad

Toasted walnuts, crumbled Roquefort, sliced avocado, and bitter chicory tossed with romaine in a sharp white wine vinaigrette. This is a salad with real presence on the plate. Nothing shy about it.

Toasting the walnuts in a dry skillet is the first step and it’s not one to skip. Raw walnuts taste flat and slightly tannic. Toasted walnuts are nutty, crunchy, and fragrant. Five to eight minutes in a hot pan transforms them completely. The vinaigrette is a classic whisked emulsion: white wine vinegar, salt, and pepper with olive oil streamed in slowly. Simple, but when you’re pairing it with Roquefort, you don’t want a complicated dressing competing.

The mix of tender romaine and slightly bitter chicory gives the greens backbone. Avocado adds creaminess that softens the salty punch of the blue cheese.

Kitchen Tips

• Whisk the oil into the vinegar in a thin, steady stream. Dumping it in all at once gives you a broken, oily dressing instead of a smooth emulsion.
• Dip the avocado slices in lemon juice after cutting. This prevents browning and adds a subtle citrus note.
• Toss the salad right before serving. The greens wilt fast under the oil-based dressing.
• Stir the walnuts constantly while toasting. They go from golden to burnt in seconds.

Variations

• Swap Roquefort for Gorgonzola or Stilton for a different blue cheese character.
• Add sliced pears instead of avocado for a classic French walnut-pear-blue cheese combination.
• Use walnut oil in place of some of the olive oil in the dressing to double down on the nutty flavor.