Blueberry Granita Salad
Wedge Salad with granita

Blueberry Granita Salad

A granita, or frozen vinaigrette, is a refreshing application for frozen blueberries which are readily available year around. Once grated, these blueberries can stay frozen in a resealable container as a grated fluffy ice to apply to salads, oysters and dessert.

Shave the Blueberry Granita over a bed of crisp greens, as seen here, for a unique presentation your customers will enjoy.

Recipe created by Chef Jamie Simpson, The Culinary Vegetable Institute.

Ingredients

Blueberry Granita

  • 8oz (227g) frozen blueberries

Pickled Blueberries

  • 40 blueberries
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cups water
  • 3 ounces sugar
  • 1 1/2 ounces salt
  • 1/4 onion, sliced
  • 1 tsp aleppo pepper powder

Crispy Blueberry Wafer

  • 6.5 ounces (185g) fresh blueberries, room temperature

Ingredients

  • 6 ounces sunflower oil
  • 2 cups lovage, chopped

Ingredients

  • Purple radish, shaved
  • Micro lovage
  • Young merlot romaine
  • Fleur de sel
  • Hibiscus leaf
  • Dianthus flower
  • Sorrel blooms
  • Rose petals
  • Lemon juice
  • Coriander blooms

Preparation

Instructions

  1. Apply a grating disk to your food processor and place all of the non-electronic components in the freezer to chill. Once cold, reassemble the food processor and gently grate all of the blueberries.
  2. Collect the granita into a chilled 8oz storage container and, depending on the application, season with salt, sugar or both before immediately returning it to the freezer for storage until serving.

Pickled Blueberries

  1. Combine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, onion, and pepper powder in a bowl and mix until fully incorporated.
  2. Add the blueberries.
  3. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for 3 days until serving.

Crispy Blueberry Wafer

  1. Using a high-speed blender, puree room temperature blueberries as smooth as your blender will allow. It is perfectly normal for the puree to warm up slightly as it blends.
  2. Transfer 2 oz portions of the puree to the 11” x 11” nonstick dehydrator sheets or acetate film. Spread the puree to dimensions of approximately 10” x 10”, ensuring the depth of the puree is consistent across the entire sheet.
  3. Dehydrate the sheets at 105ºf until fully dried. For an even crispier wafer you can bake the dry sheets on a nonstick baking mat for 2-5 minutes at 300ºf.
  4. Store the dried wafers in the dehydrator or in sealed containers with desiccant packs until serving.

  1. Combine the lovage and sunflower oil in a blender and process on high, partially covered, for 5-7 minutes until steam is evaporating from the top and purée has broken.
  2. Pour the contents of the blender into a container with a coffee filter attached to the lid with a rubber band. Allow the oil to drip below into the container.

  • Place the salad lettuces on a resting rack and dress with lovage oil.
  • Top with shaved radish, micro lovage, pickled blueberries, hibiscus leaf, sorrel blooms, dianthus flowers, blueberry granita, blueberry leather and fleur de sel.

Variations

The featured salad ingredients are recommendations from Chef Jamie Simpson, but any salad greens can be substituted. Apply Blueberry Granita to your favorite salad of choice!

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