Hearts of Palm Nested in a Radicchio Leaf with Heirloom Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

This is a delicacy that should be eaten with pure reverence. Hearts of Palm are the inner portion of the stem of the Cabbage Palm, Florida's official state tree. Their delicate flavor is similar to an artichoke with the firm, smooth texture of white asparagus.

They are only available fresh in Florida and other tropical climate countries where the tree grows. Harvesting from wild single-stemmed palms results in the death of the tree while Peach Palms are self-suckering producing up to 40 stems, so harvesting is not as expensive—still it is labor intensive.

Florida's wild Sabal Palmetto (Cabbage Palm) is now protected by conservation law.

Usually cut in to coins, I sliced these down the middle to extract the super slim core as a garnish and then did a fine chop of two stalks. The canned variety come packed in water and if you choose to dress this salad, I suggest using the water to make your dressing. The small leaf radicchio nest is a beautiful way to plate and present this special ingredient. I also added a small chop of heirloom tomatoes in to the mix and topped it with a little feta. A few French green beans and a slice of heirloom finishes the plate. If you want to make it even more dramatic, add an extra leaf of radicchio as shown in this other image.

This would be delicious served with some fettuccine alfredo.

My reverence for food and making a plate a piece of art is a delight, but I will add this quote from Andy Rooney Toons as a funny note of contrast.

"I don't like food that's too carefully arranged; it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting.

-Andy Rooney

For more interesting food quotes, go to this link.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/food-quotes-famous-eating_n_2481583.html