Watermelon Radish and Spring Shoots with Creme Fraiche Dressing

Guest Photographer Nicole Franzen

  • Guest Photographer Nicole Franzen
  • Guest Photographer Nicole Franzen
  • Guest Photographer Nicole Franzen
  • Guest Photographer Nicole Franzen
  • Guest Photographer Nicole Franzen

NOTES

I like this method of pooling heavier dressings in the bottom of the serving dish and piling greens on top. It avoids wilting or weighing down the greens, and you can toss at the very last minute before serving.

INSTRUCTIONS

Peel radish and slice thinly on mandolin. Try to keep the round shape.

Wash and spin greens, lightly toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Pick dill fronds from stalk, add to greens.

Mix together all ingredients for the dressing and pour into the bottom of a large shallow bowl. Assemble your greens and radish slices on to of the dressing and sprinkle with mustard seeds.

Your guests will spoon up the dressing underneath the salad when they serve themselves.  This is a great way to have a rich dressing with these delicate greens, while avoiding wilting and sogginess.

RECIPE

DIFFICULTY

EASY

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
SERVES

6

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
PREP TIME

15 MINS

Ingredients

  • 1 
    tbs 
    dill sprigs
  • 3 
    cups 
    spring shoots, sunflower shoots, pea tendrils, watercress
  • 1-2 
     
    Watermelon radishes, peeled
  • 1  
    tsp 
    pickled mustard seeds (optional)

Dressing

  • 3 
    tbsp 
    extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 
    tbsp 
    creme fraiche
  • 1 
    tbsp 
    Sherry vinegar
  • 1/2 
    lemon 
    juiced
  • 1 
     
    minced shallot
  • 1/2 
    tsp 
    honey
  • 2 
    tsp 
    dijon mustard
  •  
     
    salt and peper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Peel radish and slice thinly on mandolin. Try to keep the round shape.

Wash and spin greens, lightly toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Pick dill fronds from stalk, add to greens.

Mix together all ingredients for the dressing and pour into the bottom of a large shallow bowl. Assemble your greens and radish slices on to of the dressing and sprinkle with mustard seeds.

Your guests will spoon up the dressing underneath the salad when they serve themselves.  This is a great way to have a rich dressing with these delicate greens, while avoiding wilting and sogginess.

If you use Instagram, and you love food, restaurants and beautiful spaces, you probably already know photographer Nicole Franzen’s work. She is a wildly popular lifestyle photographer, who captures the nooks and crannies of some of the hippest eateries in our beloved borough and beyond. When I started my blog, her name was continuously given as a reference for how to make mouth-watering food photos and how to lend interior spaces a palpable personality of their own.

Nicole and I have friends in common, so I extended the invitation for an unusual Salad For President guest appearance – she is joining us as a photographer, not a chef. To mark the occasion, I decided to host a brunch for some friends, in celebration of my friend Gillian’s completion of oral exams for her Art History PHD at Columbia. In preparation for this daunting test, Gillian had gone into complete hibernation, for 3 months, and we missed her terribly (Gillian is my partner in crime). To welcome her back in style, I went all out serving a Hen of The Woods Mushroom Galette, Smoked Fish from Acme Smoked Fish in Greenpoint, and a colorful Watermelon Radish Salad with Crème Fraiche dressing. Kari Morris, of Morris Kitchen brought some of her Blackberry Cordial, which was perfect mixed with some Prosecco. It was the perfect Sunday brunch, immortalized.

Nicole In Her Own Words

Julia: You came to lifestyle photography after working in the restaurant business for 12 years. Can you tell me a little about that experience, where you worked and how it lead you to do the work you do now?

Julia: I got my first restaurant job when I was 14. I quickly worked my way up ladder. The longer I worked in the industry, the higher my aspirations became; I dreamed of working at the French Laundry with Thomas Keller. At the age of 21, I moved to NYC where I worked with Andrew Carmellini and in other various NYC spots. I quickly realized that I had a lot more to offer.
I had always loved and appreciated interior design, gardens and lifestyle as a whole. I often had a camera in my hand and documented my life. All of that came together when I channeled my passions through the lens, and I pushed myself to improve everyday. Social media and blogging really helped me establish a name for myself.

Julia: Judging from your blog and Instagram, you are constantly taking photos. Do you feel yourself improving all the time?

Nicole: I cannot stop snapping! It’s ridiculous really. I am an instagram addict and post as many as 1-4 images a day. At this point in my career, I have honed in on what I should be shooting and what I love to shoot most.

Julia: Do you get to eat the food at the restaurants you shoot? Or is it all so styled and man-handled to the point of being inedible by the time you are done shooting?

Nicole: Ha! This is both the advantage and disadvantage to shooting food. Yes I do typically eat the restaurant food because 98% of the time its a perfectly edible when we are done with it. When you’re shooting a restaurant they are giving you what they give to customers, so why not!?! I typically can’t say no to these delicious things and it shows in my waistline. When I work with a food stylist this is not always the case. The dish built to look beautiful and taste is often not a consideration.

Julia: The Brooklyn food explosion cannot be divorced from the thousands of images posted of food/restaurants/cocktails in this borough. Do you think this has had an affect on how chefs plate and present their food?

Nicole: It’s true, everyone takes photos of their food now. I don’t think it has too much of an impact on how chefs plate. They typically present well because they are artists and care about presentation. Obviously if they are plating a dish for a photo, a little extra care will be put into it. One unfortunate thing that I am seeing in a lot in social media, is people shooting their food in a super dark candle-lit restaurants. This does no justice to the food, and in fact, it makes the food look really unappetizing. There are great articles out there now on how to take the best food photos with your iPhone, like this one in Condé Nast Traveler.

Julia: I know you love to shoot interiors. Is there a location in Brooklyn that is particularly close to your heart? One that you have shot or that you would love to shoot?

Nicole: Oh this is a tough one, I love so many Brooklyn restaurant interiors; we are really doing some amazing things. Just to name a few that I love in particular: Maison Premiere, Five Leaves, a new place called Coco is super cute, Glasserie, Marlowe & Sons, Reynards at the Wythe and the rooftop bar Ides. Check them out!

Julia: What is the most beautiful salad you have ever taken a photo of?

Nicole: I don’t have a specific favorite, but salads are actually in fact one of my favorite things to shoot. I love the freshness, the vibrancy, the color. I am a huge salad eater so it’s close to my heart.