Thursday, February 23, 2012

Blue Cheese Endive Spears

Posted by Wendy / 5 comments » / Recipes

There is a world of produce out there to experience. Until last year, I had not savored the crispy bite of an endive spear. I wasn’t avoiding it but I wasn’t going out of my way to look for it either. A friend recently served some for brunch and I was instantly hooked.

The wonderful people at Discover Endive! recently sent me a box of fresh California endive to play with. There are so many ways you can use endive. I made the spears in this recipe. I also used the spears as a “scooper” for tuna which was very similar to a lettuce wrap. In addition, I also used some chopped endive in a salad. I’m looking forward to using it in my cooking adventures.

What is endive? As indicated by Discover Endive!, “endive is a member of the chicory family, which includes radicchio, escarole and curly endive. It is often called the queen of vegetables and is prized the world over. It has a crisp texture and a sweet, nutty flavor with a pleasantly mild bitterness — great served raw or cooked.”

Health benefits:

  • a good source of beta-carotene, which the body coverts into vitamin A
  • a good source of heart-healthy potassium — one head of endive delivers over 50% of the potassium found in a banana
  • high in complex fiber

I plated the spears with some of the lemon garlic hummus I recently made but I must admit I never touched the hummus. The spears did not need any additional ingredients.

Disclaimer:  I received a box of endive for free from Discover Endive; as always, opinions stated are my own.

Print
Blue Cheese Endive Spears

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 16

Endive is incredibly versatile. You can substitute the blue cheese with goat cheese and/or the pecans with walnuts to adapt this tasty appetizer to your liking.

Ingredients

16 slices endive leaves

1/2 cup Maytag Blue Cheese, crumbled (substitute with goat cheese if desired)

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Directions

Arrange endive leaves on a serving platter.

Add a few crumbles of cheese to the base of each endive leaf.

Add a sprinkle of nuts on top of the cheese.

Drizzle a little bit of honey over the cheese and nut mixture.

Serve.

http://laphemmephoodie.com/2012/02/blue-cheese-endive-spears.html

 


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Posted by Wendy on February 23, 2012
5 Comments »
 

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5 Responses to “Blue Cheese Endive Spears”

  1. 1

    Joanne — February 23, 2012 @ 1:29 PM

    That is one delicious appetizer. Great suggestion for using endive.

  2. 2

    Kristina — February 23, 2012 @ 1:38 PM

    these look beautiful!

  3. 3

    Baker Street — February 24, 2012 @ 11:34 PM

    Lovely presentation.

  4. 4

    Priscilla - She's Cookin' — February 26, 2012 @ 1:33 PM

    I’ve been doing the same, although this is not the first time I’ve tasted endive. Great substitute for bread and chips if you’re watching calories – added nutrition and the crunch is satisfying, too.

  5. 5

    kita — February 28, 2012 @ 7:53 PM

    Well now I am not sure if I have ever tasted an endive myself… >.> A trip to the market! I love excuses…. I like the simplicity and beauty of serving these with the cheese and nuts on them for people to munch on.

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