Have you ever actually eaten an endive? Or do you just skim your eyes past them in the grocery store?
Or . . . is it possible you have never even heard of an endive (like me before coming to France)?
It’s a bitter type of lettuce grown without sun, and although I shared a recipe for it cooked with ham and cheese here, it is more commonly eaten in France as a cold salad. And I’m about to show you the tastiest way.
(I do realize I am taking my reputation in my hands, as I know what “enthusiastic” salad eaters you are, but I feel it behooves me to tempt you with vegetables, and not just let you eat cake).
Take about 5 medium endives, cut the core out at a slant like so, then chop them into rounds and wash them.
You can use the leaves as an edible spoon for caviar, but more on that another time.
My salad spinner is an indispensable part of my kitchen – I hate soggy salads.
Then take a nice, ripe, firm sweet pear.
Chop it into small pieces.
Then take a hunka cheese, like gruyère. (This is emmental).
Dice it to get about 2/3 cup.
And that’s it! Except for the dressing: a heaping tablespoon of dijon mustard.
And, you don’t truly need the balsamic vinegar but it does help to make the dressing a little runnier. Don’t put much more than a teaspoon though, or it will be sour, which would perfectly well for a different salad, but not for this one. (I poured too much here and it was sour).
And then you need 4 tablespoons of bland oil. No olive oil for this one – something like canola or sunflower.
Pour it on and mix it up.
It’s not precisely a white salad when it’s tainted with balsamic vinegar.
But it’s good. Sweet, bitter, sharp and bland tastes all melt together in every bite. You can serve this white salad as a side to white meat.
Who said you didn’t need to eat greens whites in Winter Fall?
- 5 endives
- 1 pear
- ⅔ cup diced Swiss cheese
- Dressing:
- 1 heaping Tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
- 4 Tablespoons bland oil, like canola
- Wash and cut endives.
- Wash and dice pear.
- Dice cheese.
- Combine dressing ingredients.
- Serve as a side dish to meat.
Use white balsamic vinegar! My mother made me go buy some for a similar recipe she was making in my kitchen, precisely because she did not want the dressing to change the color of the dish. Until that moment, I had no idea that white balsamic vinegar existed. She’s one of those who firmly believes in only using white pepper in white sauces as well.