These delicious endive salad bites have citrus, grilled feta, toasted nuts, fresh herbs, and pomegranate seeds. It's all of winter's best produce in one dish!
This endive salad makes for a wonderful appetizer or a great light lunch.
Why You Should Make this Endive Recipe
This gorgeous salad is a bright, flavorful, and a real beauty. It features some of winter's best seasonal produce and is a fabulous appetizer or light lunch.
It will serve 4 to 6 for an appetizer and 2 people for lunch.
What are Endives?
Belgian endives, part of the chicory family, are small, slightly bitter heads of lettuce. It has pale yellow or red leaves and can be eaten raw, grilled, baked, or sautéed.
Cooking the endive mellows the flavor, but served raw like in this recipe it has a delicious crisp bite.
When are endives in season?
Endives are often found all year round, but they are at their peak from September through May.
Endive Salad Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make this recipe.
- Belgian Endives - you'll want at least 3 or 4 medium-sized Belgian endives. We like a mix of yellow and red ones.
- Citrus - at least two pieces of fresh citrus. We used one grapefruit and one navel orange, but Cara Cara oranges, mandarins, and blood oranges would all work.
- Pomegranate seeds - these are a bright pop of color and flavor.
- Nuts - we used a mixture of pine nuts, pistachios, and slivered almonds. You can also use walnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans.
- Fresh Herbs - you'll need thyme to top the feta and basil and chives for the dressing. You could also use mint or parsley.
- Olive oil - this will serve as the base for the dressing.
- Feta - make sure to get a block of feta (not crumbled feta). You'll grill this for a delicious melty cheese center.
- Honey - this will be a sweet topping for the feta.
How to Make this Appetizer Salad
- Grill the feta - Combine the cheese, thyme, and honey in a foil package and grill over medium heat for 16 minutes.
- Toast the nuts - heat the nuts for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Finely chop them after they've cooled a little.
- Prep the citrus and the endives - cut the citrus into small pieces. Chop the ends off the endives and pull them apart. Save the endive hearts and chop them into small pieces.
- Make the dressing - Combine the olive oil, nuts, herbs, endive hearts, salt, and pepper.
- Arrange the salad - place the endive leaves on a plate and top them with the citrus, dressing, and pomegrante. Place the feta in the center.
More Fun Appetizers To Try
Little bites and canapes can be fun to serve at a party or before dinner. Here are some of our other favorite appetizer recipes we think you'll like!
- Radish Puff Appetizer - a beautiful puff pastry appetizer with a peppery radish kick
- Persimmon Prosciutto Crostinis - an easy appetizer perfect for the holidays
- Skordalia Recipe - a delicious potato and garlic dip
- Cozy Winter Squash Tart - a beautiful and tasty puff pastry tart with delicata squash
Enjoy this beautiful endive recipe! Please let us know if you make it - either comment below or tag us on Instagram @thishealthytable
Endive Salad
You're going to love this delicious endive salad recipe that can be served as an appetizer or light lunch.
Ingredients
- 6 ounce block of feta
- 1 tablespoon honey
- few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 3 Belgian endives
- 1 grapefruit
- 1 navel orange
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
- ⅓ cup nuts (we used pine nuts, pistachios, and slivered almonds)
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- pinch of salt and pepper
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Heat a grill or a grill pan to medium heat.
- Place the feta in a sheet of aluminum foil. Top with honey and fresh thyme. Close the foil to create a sealed package. Place the foil package of feta on the grill and cook for 16 minutes.
- Meanwhile, trim the bases of the Belgian endives and then carefully pull off the leaves from the endives. Save the small tight centers of the endives and chop them up into small pieces.
- Cut the grapefruit and orange into small pieces.
- Toast the nuts in a small frying pan over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Then chop into small pieces.
- Combine the chopped endive centers, chopped nuts, basil, chives, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a bowl. Stir to combine.
- Place the endive leaves on a serving platter in a ring, place the feta in the center. Layer the leaves with the citrus, pomegranate seeds, and nut herb dressing. Sprinkle the feta with a little of the dressing as well.
- Serve immediately. Scoop the feta up with the leaves or use spoons to top the leaves with the feta.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 250Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 294mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 3gSugar: 10gProtein: 7g
Albertina
Friday 8th of January 2021
I made this for my son and he asks for it regularly. I can’t tell you how much everyone loves this salad. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!