Chefs' Recipes

Grant Achatz's cucumber, orchard fruits and lettuces with white sesame, white pepper and white miso dressing

"Twenty years ago when I was a young cook at The French Laundry in Napa, California, I was talking to a chef friend of mine in the kitchen who confidently claimed that ingredients sharing the same colour pair with each other and dared me to prove him wrong," says Achatz. "To this day, I still haven't, and this creamy, spicy and somewhat sweet white-on-white dressing proves it."

By Grant Achatz
  • 15 mins preparation
  • Serves 8
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"Twenty years ago when I was a young cook at The French Laundry in Napa, California, I was talking to a chef friend of mine in the kitchen who confidently claimed that ingredients sharing the same colour pair with each other and dared me to prove him wrong," says Achatz. "To this day, I still haven't, and this creamy, spicy and somewhat sweet white-on-white dressing proves it."

Ingredients

  • 500 gm red radishes, trimmed and quartered (1 bunch)
  • 2 cucumbers, cut into 5mm-thick rounds
  • 2 Granny Smith apples, cored, cut into eighths
  • 2 ripe pears, cored, cut into eighths
  • ½ Spanish onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup (loosely packed) rocket, stems trimmed
  • 1 head cos lettuce, leaves separated and halved lengthways
  • 1 small head (150gm) radicchio, leaves separated and halved lengthways
Sesame-pepper-miso dressing
  • 75 ml grapeseed oil
  • 60 gm sesame seeds
  • 30 gm silken tofu
  • 25 gm white miso
  • 25 ml lemon juice
  • 10 gm white peppercorns
  • 1 small garlic clove

Method

Main
  • 1
    For dressing, blend ingredients and 1 tsp salt and 100ml water in a blender on high speed until smooth (10 minutes); stop the blender at intervals if it gets hot, wait for it to cool, then resume. Strain through a fine sieve and thin to drizzling consistency with a little water if necessary. Dressing keeps refrigerated for up to 5 days.
  • 2
    Combine vegetables, fruit and leaves in a large bowl, ladle dressing over salad to taste, toss lightly to coat and serve with remaining dressing.
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