Grilled Treviso (Radicchio) with Balsamic Vinaigrette

When I was conceiving of tonight's meal I knew I wanted to make our usual roast chicken, but I didn't want to do an arugula salad with it.  I wanted something a little more seasonal - a little different.  So I decided to "grill" up some Treviso radicchio.  I say "grill" because we don't have a grill here in NYC.  Instead I seasoned the radicchio with evoo, s&p and cooked it on the stove top in our grill pan.  Cooking it in the grill pan rather than on a grill means that you miss out on the smokey flavor of the grill, but you get a similar caramelization.  Cooking the radicchio mellows some of the bitterness and the balsamic offsets that natural bitterness nicely.  You really need to use a nice aged balsamic here or it will be more acidic than sweet.  Radicchio still isn't one of my favorite lettuces or veggies and I still prefer a simple arugula salad overall, but this was a really nice change and very seasonal.  The flavor of the grilled radicchio and the balsamic seemed so perfectly autumnal to me.

Recipe after the jump!

Grilled Treviso (Radicchio) with Balsamic Vinaigrette

INGREDIENTS:

2 large heads Treviso radicchio, halved through the core

1 tsp evoo

s&p

2 tsp aged balsamic vinegar

Drizzle radicchio with evoo and season it with s&p.  Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  Grill radicchio until charred and wilted, about 2 minutes per side.  You should have noticeable grill marks on the radicchio, but you don't want it to be burnt and crispy.

Remove radicchio from the grill and drizzle with balsamic.  Serve.