Grapefruit Salad with Sumac Dressing

I was going through my cookbooks to see which one I'd used the most in the past and to no one's surprise, it was my copy of Jerusalem (Yotam Ottolenghi) that's been cooked from most often. The use of vegetables with bright flavors and meats with nuanced spices is exactly what I crave most days. So I decided to look more deeply into Yotam's other books with the hope his penchant for playing with bold flavors will garner me more recipe inspiration. And I wasn't disappointed.

Plenty More has many such recipes that has me excited to cook with the spring produce coming in abundantly in California. The basil I've been getting from Tomatero farms is so fragrant, my entire apartments smells like summer after using it. Citrus fruits are very easy to come by here and spring watercress is just the right amount of crunchy, juicy and spicy right now. So I decided to the try grapefruit salad with watercress, endive and basil from the book that had a very interesting salad dressing with sumac.
The salad turned out to be just as promised. Bright, crunchy, sweet and tart. And with some boiled eggs on the side, it made for a complete meal.

Recipe adapted from Plenty More, Yotam Ottolenghi
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
5 lb ruby red grapefruits (about 6 large grapefruits)
1 dried chile
2 tbsp powdered sugar
4 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sumac
1/2 medium red onion, cut into thin slices
1/2 lb endive (red or white), core removed and large leaves cut on the diagonal and small leaves separated
1 small bunch watercress, roughly torn
1/3 bunch basil, leaves roughly torn
4-8 soft/hard boiled eggs, halved

Instructions:
Supreme 5 of the grapefruits in a fine mesh sieve placed over a bowl to collect the juices. Also, squeeze as much juice as you can get from the membranes. Measure the amount of juice you have. You need 1 1/4 cup. If you have enough, don't use the 6th grapefruit. If you don't juice the last grapefruit (and no need to supreme). Set the grapefruit segments aside and in a small saucepan, bring the grapefruit juice, dried chile and powdered sugar to a boil while stirring. Lower heat to medium and simmer for about 25-30 minutes till the juice is reduced to 1/3 cup. Once reduced, remove from heat and add olive oil, salt, lemon juice and sumac. Whisk it in till emulsified well. Let it cool for a bit.
In a large salad bowl, toss grapefruit segments with onion slices, endive, watercress and basil. Drizzle with the salad dressing and taste. Adjust for salt if need be. Divide into four bowls, add 1-2 soft (or hard) boiled eggs and serve immediately. If you don't plan on serving the salad immediately, don't toss with the dressing.