One thing the French and the Belgians have in common other than a border, is the use of endives in salads. A classic is a combo with apple, walnuts and blue cheese. Call it what you want, I call it delicious.
Large handful baby kale or other baby salad greens4 Belgian Endives
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced at last minute
Dressing:
1/4 cup walnut oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
Dash Sel de Mer, or coarse salt
Dash freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven (I use a toaster oven) to 375F. Place walnuts on a baking sheet and toast walnuts for about 5 minutes, shaking and turning once or twice. Watch the walnuts carefully so they do not burn. You are just trying to achieve a rich, nutty flavor coming off the nuts. Remove nuts from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
Trim the ends off the endives and remove the leaves individually. Place kale or salad greens in the base of a wide, shallow serving bowl. Layer endive leaves in a circular pattern on top of greens.
Place the nuts, apple and cheese together in a large bowl. Add just enough of the dressing to moisten generously and gently fold mixture together. Tip mixture onto the endive leaves. Decorate with parsley and serve with extra dressing on the side for Grandpa, who loves an extra shot of dressing.
Serves 4 as a side salad.
Cook’s Note: Toppings count- You can add a handful of golden raisins or dried cranberries to the salad for a nice sweet offset. You can slice up any left over endive and mix in with the apple and cheese - this is a common presentation. Or you can save the tender endive centers for poaching with leeks (which I do!)
Belgian Toppings, Antwerp
French Toppings, Paris
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