About Endive

Endive is a lettuce like green vegetable that is generally used for making salads. This leaf vegetable belongs to the Composite family, just as chicory. In fact, it is the second growth of the chicory plant, where the endive head grows above the chicory root. The outer layers of endive are dark green and slightly bitter to taste, while the inner layers that are lighter in color generally have a milder taste. Endive recipes include dishes that are either sautéed, stir fried, steamed, braised and even salads. Some popular endive recipes of various cuisines are Japanese Green Summer Salad with Seafood, Avocado Tomato Salad, Belgian Endive au Gratin, Mushroom and Endive Soup, Witlof with Ham, etc. Curly endive, the narrow leaved variety and Escarole, the broad leaved variety are the two main types of endive.

History of Endive and Endive Recipes
Endive, especially the curly variety is believed to have originated in Southeast Asia. However, it is native to the Mediterranean region and certain other parts of Europe. In fact, there is reference made to endive as a pot herb and also to endive recipes in the early Roman scriptures. This salad green, along with chicory, was also grown onboard navy ships around the 16th century to be used in various recipes. Witlof, a Belgian endive is considered a delicacy in Europe, where the leaves of the vegetable are sliced or braised to make some popular accompaniments. Ancient writings of Ovid, Horace, Pliny, Virgil, and Galenus have called this leaf vegetable as “Friend of the Liver” for its well known stimulating effect. Today, many cuisines across the world make various salads, soups and stir fries that include endive.

Culinary Uses of Endive
Endive has many culinary uses, especially as accompaniments. This salad green tastes better and the flavor is enhanced when the leaves are torn rather than chopped for a salad. Other ways of using this vegetable in various endive recipes is to either steam the leaves or to braise them. Chopped endive leaves are at times added to some soups, to give them a mild flavor. Some stir fried dishes too contain the sliced leaves of this highly nutritious vegetable. Whatever may be the recipe, before using it is very important to thoroughly wash the leaves of endive.

Popular Endive Recipes of Various Cuisines
Endive is part of most the European cuisines, especially Italian, French, Belgian and Dutch. It is also part of the American cuisine. While selecting the endive heads, it is important to ensure that there are no brown spots are on the leaves and they should be clean, bright green in color. Young tender leaves are always preferred over the older tougher leaves. Some popular endive recipes are –

Italian – Minestra is a popular endive recipe of this cuisine. The main ingredients of this appetizer are curly endive, pepperoni and cannellini beans. These ingredients are cooked together after sautéing chopped garlic in olive oil. They are then seasoned with salt. Minestra can be served as is or with Italian bread. Other popular endive recipes of this cuisine are Cicoria con Fagioli, Italian Endive Soup, Bruschetta, Minestrone Napoletana, etc.
French – Green Salad with Roquefort Cheese is a popular endive recipe of this cuisine. The main ingredients of this salad are Roquefort cheese, lettuce, arugula, water cress, endive and toasted hazelnuts. All these ingredients are chopped and tossed together with vegetable and hazelnut oil, cider vinegar, honey and magi seasoning. Another popular recipe of this cuisine is Chicory and Bacon Salad.
American – Endive Salad w/hot Sauce is a popular endive recipe of this cuisine. As the name indicates, it is made with bacon, endive leaves and red onion as the main ingredients. These are spiced with mustard, vinegar, pepper, salt and sugar, to give the salad a nice spicy taste. Cobb Salad and Philly Cheese Steak are other popular endive recipes of American cuisine.
Belgian – Endive Au Gratin is a delicious endive recipe of Belgian cuisine. This dish is made with a combination of many ingredients such as ham, hard boiled eggs, soft bread (without the crust), light cream, milk and grated gruyere cheese. Pepper, salt and nutmeg are used for adding spice to the dish and butter is used for sautéing the ingredients, which are then baked in the oven for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Some more well known endive recipes are Stuffed Endive, Penne Pasta with Cannellini Beans and Escarole, Warm Belgian Endive and Pine Nut Salad, Witlof and Ham, etc.

Nutritive Value of Endive Recipes
Endive is a mildly flavored leaf vegetable that is rich in vitamins and minerals. This salad green is rich in vitamin C, K and A. It is also rich in fiber that is essential for our metabolism.

Endive Recipes: Trivia
Endive became very popular in France when it was first introduced in the year 1872 and it was then given the name “White Gold”.