Diving On Into Endive

Here we are.

#51

And funny story, I had a whole box of stuff I bought that I thought would cover me to the end of the year. However, I majored in creative writing and never gave math a second glance and miscounted so this was a last minute endeavor and actually something I had always had as a “just-in-case-I-can’t-find-something” pick. Finally, you all get to see my backup plan.

I said it in the last posts, but photo quality has diminished slightly because I just don’t have time to time it at the perfect time to get the perfect light to get the perfect angle and all that jazz so you’re going to have to deal with my cruddy flash skills.

Belgian endive worried me and it also seemed absolutely delicious.

You see, endive is actually part of the chicory family. The chicory relative we had earlier was radicchio and I’m not going to link to it because I can just tell you that I spit it out in the trash.

I read up on all these ways to use endive leaves though, and most of it is to just fill the leaves with tasty things. These are essentially just healthier chips and crackers. Fairly bland in terms of what they add but you know there are certain things you eat that you just need a fresh little bite alongside with it.

I had leftover some spicy dip I had made for Christmas and this went fantastic with it because it toned down the spiciness of it. I also saw that you can put goat cheese with drizzled honey and nuts and that sounds like an absolute delight and I wish I had the cheese to make it.

Separating the leaves is pretty easy since all you have to do is chop off the bottom and separate the leaves. The green tops feel delicate like the radicchio leaves did, but the white part is strong like cabbage and the cross section looks like fennel. They’re so tiny though that they make for perfect little party snacks albeit most likely a time consuming preparation though so no go for me.

I think that endive has turned my relationship with chicory into a good thing. I will say that anytime I encounter it in the wild that I want to drown it in cheese, dressing, or vinegar but I don’t see that as necessarily a bad thing. Nobody is going to take huge stalks of romaine lettuce and dip it in things (no matter what a restaurant insists on calling it) so endive really fits the bill.

Get your endive on and fill them up with tasty treats.

While you’re snacking on those, get ready for the last fruit of the year. I’m telling you right now that it is going to be a doozy. I don’t throw the word “doozy” around lightly either, nobody should because “doozy” should be taken more seriously.

It. Will. Be. A. Major. Big. Doozy. Of a post.