Winter Avocado Toast

I may have said this before, but one of the few things that I appreciated about living in California was the variety of versions of avocado toast available. This was before the rest of the world discovered avocado toast and it became ubiquitous.

My favorite restaurant version came from a hole in the wall restaurant, now defunct, where they whipped their avocado into a crema, and served it on pumpernickel, with deep fried capers and lemon juice tossed alfalfa sprouts. My favorite homemade version, that I make for myself fairly regularly as an easy breakfast or lunch on the fly, is a piece of toasted sourdough, spread lightly with preserved lemon paste, layered with a sliced avocado half, spritzed with lemon juice, and sprinkled with a tiny bit of flaky salt.

The other day it was cold and gray and preserved lemon paste and avocado suddenly. felt too summery, too bright. Still, needs must as I had an avocado whose time had very much come, so I came up with a winter version for the occasion.

1 c roughly chopped radicchio leaves

1/2 ripe avocado, sliced

1 piece of your favorite bread, toasted

1 tsp olive oil

2 tsps or so of pumpkin seeds or walnuts

Drizzle balsamic vinegar to taste

Salt to taste

Heat a heavy pan until it is very hot (I use my cast iron pan for this.)

Add the oil to the pan and tilt so that there is a thin layer of oil on the bottom of the pan.

Add the radicchio. Cook without stirring over medium heat for one minute and then stir to redistribute the leaves. Doing this will help caramelize the leaves.

Cook for a few minutes, until the leaves are burnished and softened, and caramelized in places.

Stir in the balsamic vinegar and remove from the heat.

Spoon the radicchio over the toast. Layer on the avocado slices and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds and a bit of salt.

This winter avocado toast is definitely a fork and knife affair.