If you struggle to get in your greens, these endive recipes can help you out!
If you think of greens only as rabbit food, these recipes might change your mind.
Belgian endives are a type of chicory that is nutritious and delicious. When raw, endives are slightly bitter and very crisp.
When cooked, they take on a variety of flavors from nutty to smoky.
However you choose to prepare endives, you will not be disappointed. And you certainly get to experience their many health benefits.
In fact, they’re high in potassium, fiber, and vitamin K.
Endives have been shown to promote a healthy pregnancy, lower your blood sugar, and improve eyesight.
So, let’s enDIVE in! Here are 13 recipes to get you started.
1. Endive Salad with Parmesan and Orange
Fresh, crisp, and bold in flavor, this endive salad will become a dinner favorite.
It features fresh endives, radicchio, almonds, oranges, and parmesan cheese.
The endive and radicchio add notes of bitterness but don’t worry. The bitterness is perfectly balanced with salty parmesan and sweet orange.
Everything is tied together with a red wine vinaigrette. It’s delicious.
2. Endive Roquefort Salad
Prepare your mouth for a fireworks display of flavor and texture.
The lettuce mix is slightly bitter, made with endives and watercress.
It’s accompanied by sweet and spicy candied walnuts, fresh grapes, and pungent blue cheese.
It also features a tangy honey dijon vinaigrette that is utterly delicious.
I will say that this dish might not be for the faint of heart. If you like exciting flavors, you’ll love this salad.
3. Braised Belgian Endives
If you want an elegant dish without a lot of work, look no further. These simple braised endives are seriously savory.
They’re rich and buttery and slightly sweet.
They’re caramelized in butter and then braised in chicken stock (or white wine… or both). The result is perfectly tender and delectable endives.
Serve it with roast beef, chicken, or ham. It’s a great side dish for a holiday meal.
4. Stuffed Endive Appetizer with Blue Cheese and Apple
If you love all things mini, try these stuffed endives! They’re sort of like a mini, bite-sized salad. The best part is that this fancy appetizer is ready in 15 minutes.
Oh, and you won’t have to cook a thing! Each bite contains tart apple, nutty pistachios, sharp blue cheese, and fresh mint.
All of that is stuffed into a crisp endive leaf and topped with orange vinaigrette.
5. Endive, Citrus, and Avocado Salad
I think if salads could compete in sports, this one would be a gymnast. It has amazing balance, in both taste and texture.
Plus, its flavors somersault over your tastebuds!
This salad features raw endives, a variety of citrus fruits, and slices of avocado. Everything is lightly dressed with oil, balsamic vinegar, and seasonings.
It’s bitter, tart, sweet, and salty. It is creamy, crunchy, and soft. This salad deserves a gold medal for its deliciousness.
6. Belgian Endive Soup
There’s nothing like a warm, creamy soup to warm you up, body and soul. This Belgian Endive soup will do just that.
Onions, endives, potatoes, vegetable broth, and cream make up this soup.
Also, it’s vegan and gluten-free. However, you can use non-vegan ingredients if you prefer. Either way, it’s simple and delectable.
7. Endive, Walnut, and Grape Salad
Sweet, crunchy, and fresh, this salad is perfect for summer!
This salad is surprisingly simple. You start by laying down a bed of endives. Then, you load them with fresh grapes and chopped walnuts.
Top it off with a dressing of honey, dijon, lemon, oil, and seasonings. I honestly can’t tell if it’s a veggie salad or a fruit salad!
8. Belgian Endive and Ham Gratin (Endives au Jambon)
This dish is dangerously delicious. It’s rich, creamy, cheesy, and meaty.
If you like potatoes au gratin, this is a slightly lighter and certainly more flavorful version.
You start by boiling the endives until they are tender. While they boil, you make the creamy cheese sauce.
When the endives are ready, wrap them in ham, and cover everything with cheese sauce.
Bake (and broil) the dish until everything is gooey, brown, and bubbly. Bon appetit!
9. Roasted Endive with Walnut Vinaigrette
My favorite way to prepare vegetables is to roast them.
Vegetables get really sweet and flavorful when they spend time in the oven. The same happens to endives.
Endives get really sweet, caramelized, tender, and a little nutty. They’re delicious.
And when they’re topped with a tangy walnut vinaigrette, they’re amazing.
10. Endive Boats with Pear, Blue Cheese, and Shallot Vinaigrette
Send your tastebuds sailing with these delicious endive boats. They’re tangy, fresh, bitter, and so delicious!
Each bite contains slices of pear, blue cheese, candied pumpkin seeds, and vinaigrette.
The vinaigrette is made with orange and shallots. Each bite is well-rounded.
Serve these as an appetizer or as a side dish. These flavor boats beautifully complement meats, like roasted chicken or braised beef.
11. Pear, Walnut, and Endive Appetizer Bites
Get fancy on a budget with these appetizer bites. They have the same goodness as an expensive appetizer but at a fraction of the cost.
Blue cheese and endive go very well together, but blue cheese can be pricey.
This recipe saves on the cost of Roquefort by using a blue cheese salad dressing.
The dressing also adds a deliciously creamy element that similar appetizers may not have. Cranberries add another fun flavor burst.
All in all, these little bites are super yummy! They’re perfect for a holiday party or any special dinner event. Your guests will love them.
12. Black Bean Salad Stuffed Endive
These stuffed endives are the perfect summer party food. They’re crisp, fresh, and loaded with colorful goodness.
Each endive leaf is stuffed with a black bean and corn salsa. The salsa is made with black beans, bell peppers, corn, and garlic.
It’s dressed in red wine vinegar, lime juice, and cilantro.
Not only are these stuffed endives delicious, but they’re quite healthy. Each bite gives you a large serving of vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber.
13. Fall Abundance Endive Salad with Crispy Chickpeas
Now, THIS is a salad. It’s vegan, gluten-free, and amazing. I promise that even your non-vegan guests will enjoy it.
Its rainbow colors add a touch of summer to this decidedly fall salad. It features crisp apples, sweet pomegranate seeds, and slivers of almonds.
Despite its lack of meat, this salad is loaded with protein. The main source of protein comes from chickpeas.
However, spinach and radicchio contribute as well.
Everything is topped with a tangy mustard vinaigrette. You really can’t go wrong here!