Fig season’s reason for sweet, sour salad
Editor’s note: This recipe runs a little higher in carbohydrates than our usual Low-Carb Recipe selections, but for ripe, in-season figs we’re making an exception.
Agrodolce — a traditional Italian sweet-and-sour sauce (agro means “sour” and dolce “sweet”) — is a mouthwatering tussle of contrast that seems to tickle every taste bud. Figs lend themselves to achieving the sauce’s yinyang blast in a healthier way because their inherent sweetness means little added sugar is needed to balance its vinegary pucker.
The balsamic vinegar, with its own deep, natural sweet notes, gets simmered with browned shallot, some water and just a tablespoon of honey until the liquid is reduced to a sumptuously tangy syrup.
Then, quartered black mission figs (an especially sweet variety) and a little salt and pepper are tossed into the warm sauce. (You can use any variety of fresh figs, but you may need to adjust the flavor with a little more honey depending on how sweet they are.)
Here, the figs get scattered on a mound of simply dressed arugula — the pleasant pepperiness of the greens offsets the bold sweet-tang of the fruit — and partnered with bites of salty, silky prosciutto. It’s a salad so flavorful, you’ll wish you could have it all the time, but make it now while you can, during this relatively brief window of fresh fig season.
Arugula Salad With Figs Agrodolce and Prosciutto
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided use
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon mild honey
8 fresh black mission figs, stemmed and quartered (cut into eighths if large)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt, divided use
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, divided use
4 cups baby arugula
4 slices prosciutto (1 ½ ounces)
In a medium skillet over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon oil until shimmering. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until they start to soften and turn brown on the edges, 2 to 4 minutes. Add the vinegar, ¼ cup water and the honey to the skillet, raise the heat to mediumhigh and bring to a boil. Cook until the liquid thickens and is reduced to a syrup, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the figs and half of the salt and pepper and toss gently to evenly coat the figs.
In a large bowl, toss the arugula with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the remaining salt and pepper. Divide the arugula among 4 salad plates. Divide the figs evenly, then scatter torn pieces of the prosciutto around the plates and serve.
Makes 4 servings. Nutrition information: Each serving contains approximately 190 calories, 5 g protein, 9 g fat, 25 g carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 290 mg sodium and 3 g fiber.
Carbohydrate choices: 2.