Issue 100
Plus, a recipe for one of the best salads I’ve ever had.
Today is the 100th issue of on hand, a milestone I am very proud of.
I started on hand in January 2021 at a time when I was looking for a creative outlet — we were still stuck inside and I was in a job I didn’t particularly enjoy. I had previously done some food writing, but not with any real regularity, and I wanted on hand to be a place where I could deep dive into the food and drink world. It took me a long time to get into the practice of consistently working on this newsletter, but I’ve finally hit my stride.
To everyone who has read or shared or subscribed to this newsletter: thank you. There are a million things you could be reading and I am honored that you've chosen on hand as one of those things.
I look forward to sharing more interesting conversations, delicious recipes, and fun stories in the next 100 issues.
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For this 100 issue milestone, I have a recipe for a salad that I have not stopped thinking about since I first had it. I recently met a friend at a wine bar called Cecily (RIP). We ordered a selection of dishes but the chicory salad was the real star. It has a little bit of everything: bitterness from the chicory, tart and sweet from pickled raisins, a little creaminess from the dressing, and crunch from the bread crumbs.
It was so good we ordered a second half size to go with the rest of our meal.
To say we have not stopped thinking about this salad since then is not an exaggeration. Natasha and I have barely talked about anything else: how good it was, how to recreate it, the random times it pops into our head.
If you couldn’t tell we were women in our thirties, well, now you know.
The salad has since come off the menu, but in a Hail Mary attempt, I messaged the restaurant for the ingredient list, and they did me one better and sent the actual recipe. It was given to me with measurements in grams, so I did my best to convert them to other measurements in case you don’t have a scale. If you’re off by a bit, you can adjust to your taste and it will still be delicious.
I think you need the bitterness of chicory here, so try and find them if you can. They’re a somewhat specialty product, but I do know Trader Joe’s sells a pre-washed bag of hearty lettuces that includes radicchio that would work in a pinch.
