Where I am currently living is most certainly not the epicentre of the food scene in Brisbane. In fact, that sentence is actually a huge understatement.

But, now that I have set the scene you will understand why I tend to go a little crazy when I am out and about and spot something slightly more exotic that I have been unable to get and have had to substitute for as long as I can remember. One of the latest purchases was a lovely fresh head of radicchio, which I can rarely get at my local supermarket or green grocer and the second thing was something that I have never really looked for but when I stumbled upon it, got quite excited, Pomegranate Molasses.

Now I have these two beautiful purple ingredients… what to do with them? A salad. So I dredged and dredged and dredged and couldn’t for the life of me find a delicious recipe that I was sure I had to give up in the past because I couldn’t get radicchio. I was certain there were dozens, and it’s not like me to exaggerate.

So this recipe is a little bit of inspiration from my dredging the net and a lot of my favourite ingredients. Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Serve 4 as a side salad

1 small or half large head of radicchio
2 oranges
1 cup walnuts
10 dried dates, you could you fresh but they can be expensive and aren’t always in season, plus we are rehydrating in OJ so I wouldn’t bother with fresh for this recipe
100g goats cheese
Dressing
1 tbs pomegranate molasses
1 tbs golden syrup
1 tbs white wine vinegar
1 tbs vegetable oil
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbs date and orange juice

First up, place the walnuts on a baking tray and bake at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes until golden and toasted. Then set aside to cool.

The next thing you need to do is segment the oranges. Do this by first cutting off the top and bottom of the orange, then remove the skin and pith. Once completely peeled, with a small sharp knife, slice out each segment by cutting in towards the centre of the orange along the membranes on each side of the segment leaving a membrane free wedge. Repeat until all segments on both oranges have been removed, placing the segments and any juice squeezed from the orange into the bowl.

Next you will need to quarter your dates lengthways and place in the bowl of fresh orange juice and segments. I usually try to bury the dates so they all soak evenly. These can now soak until the salad is ready.

To make the dressing combine all ingredients, except the date and orange juice, into a jar or bowl and shake or whisk. Set aside.

Then get your radicchio ready by cutting the radicchio in half lengthways if using a small whole head, once you have done or if you are using half a large head cut the half head into 3 lengthways. Scatter these on a platter then your oranges, then your dates, then you nuts and then finally crumble the goats cheese over the whole thing.

Then you can take 1 tablespoon of the juice the dates and oranges were soaking in, add that to the dressing, shake again and then drizzle over the salad and serve.