Enchanting Endive
Endive salad with creamy Maytag blue cheese.
When it comes to bitter, its best buddy is something equally aggressive.
Oh, don’t worry. This isn’t a case of butting heads.
In fact, it’s a recipe for perfect harmony, as one assertive taste needs another, lest one overtake the other completely.
That’s why when it comes to endive, its pleasant bitterness practically begs for something sharp like mustard or vinegar or a piquant cheese.
“Tangle of Radicchio and Endive with Chives and Maytag Blue” proves just that.
The recipe is from “Salads: Beyond the Bowl”“Salads: Beyond the Bowl” (Kyle), of which I received a review copy last year. The book by Mindy Fox, food editor of La Cucina Italiana, includes 100 recipes for simple yet elegant salads that feature leafy lettuce, potatoes, beans, pasta, fish, game or meat.
This salad couldn’t be simpler, especially because the easy dressing is made right in the bowl you toss everything in. It calls for both radicchio and Belgian endive. But I used all endive, in both green and red varieties after getting samples from California Vegetable Specialties of Rio Vista, CA, the only producer of endives in the United States. The company grows more than 4 million pounds of endive (and yes, it’s pronounced “on-deev”) annually.
The endive is tossed with olive oil, chives and red vinegar. Tangy, nutty Maytag blue cheese is crumbled all over the top.
It makes for an effortless salad with big flavors for Easter brunch or for any warm day ahead.
Tangle of Radicchio and Endive with Chives and Maytag Blue
(Serves 4)
3/4 pound radicchio
3/4 pound Belgian endive
1/4 cup snipped chives
2 tablespoons very good extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces Maytag blue cheese, at room temperature
Cut radicchio in half lengthwise. Cut out and discard the core, then cut the head crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick ribbons. Cut endive crosswise on a slight diagonal into 1/8-inch-thick slices, through the core.
In a large bowl, combine radicchio, endive and chives. Add the oil, vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss to combine, then taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
Mound the greens onto 4 serving plates, then crumble the blue cheese over the greens with more black pepper to taste.
From “Salads: Beyond the Bowl” by Mindy Fox
More Endive Recipes: Braised Endive in Mustard Vinaigrette
Endives are very versatile and so delicious. A beautiful and tasty salad!
Cheers,
Rosa
I love a nice braised endive!
Endives are one of my favorites and this recipe is so easy – practically a no-brainer.
Endives aka called witloof over here is a typican Belgian product!
I also love the red & normal white varieaty!
I love it raw, in soups with beer & grilled too!
The recipe looks great, and the whole cookbook sounds amazing. I’ll keep my eyes open for it!
I love endive any way I can get it! And it always works so well in a salad. I should try it with the blue cheese – it sounds like an excellent pairing. Good stuff – thanks.
Endive is one of my “go to” greens in the winter. Your salad looks terrific.
Your endive salad sounds – and looks! – lovely!
do you say en-dive or on-deeve? one sounds so pretentious…unless you say it like that, and if that’s the case, then it’s cool. 🙂
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