Start Your Thanksgiving Day Extravaganza With Chef Gail Simmons' Shaved Fall Vegetable Salad With Tea-Pickled Radishes

With most of a traditional Thanksgiving Day meal featuring a variety of heavy dishes, a light salad is always a nice way to start. Chef Gail Simmons has created a Shaved Fall Vegetable Salad with Tea-Pickled Radishes that makes a great addition to any holiday meal.

Tea-Pickled Radishes:

1 cup Pure Leaf Sweet Tea (warmed but not boiling)

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 cup apple cider vinegar

8 small radishes (thinly sliced or 4 large watermelon radishes)

2 garlic cloves (thinly sliced)

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the tea with the salt; stir to dissolve.
2. Add the vinegar along with the radishes, garlic and peppercorns.
3. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour or overnight.
4. Drain the pickled radishes, reserving 1/4 cup of pickling liquid for use in vinaigrette.
5. Set aside.

Note: The drained radishes can be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Shaved Vegetable Salad:

Serves 4

1/4 cup reserved picking liquid

1 tablespoon honey

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large fennel bulb (thinly sliced)

2 sweet, crisp apples, such as Gala or Fuji (cored and thinly sliced into half moons)

2 small heads radicchio (thinly sliced)

4 celery stalks (thinly sliced on a bias, leaves reserved for garnish)

2 tablespoons roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Tea-Pickled Radishes (see recipe above)

Directions:

1. Pour the reserved pickling liquid into a large bowl.
2. Add the honey and whisk to combine.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Slowly add olive oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly to emulsify.
5. Add the fennel, apple, radicchio, celery, parsley and pickled radishes to the bowl and toss all ingredients together to coat.
6. Season with more salt and pepper if desired and garnish with celery leaves before serving.