Endive Salad
Aug 7, 2014
Enjoy crisp endive coated in creamy dressing with rich pork belly and crunchy bread crumbs.
Ever wonder why Belgian endive is white? The planta member of the chicory familyis traditionally grown using a two-step process. First, gardeners plant endive outdoors to develop its hearty roots. Before the first frost, the endive gets transferred to a dark, indoor place where it sprouts pretty little pale heads without the greening benefits of the sun. (Fellow vampire vegetable white asparagus has a similarly shadowy upbringing). Endive has a high-end reputation because it used to be shipped to the United States from Europe, and was thus expensive and hard to come by. Today, domestic-grown plants stock the shelf at supermarkets year-round. The sturdy, bitter leaves make a great salad base. Here, we combine them with skinny slices of Braised Pork Belly and our Soubise Fluid Gel. The gel adheres winningly to the leaves, creating a great coat that reminds us of the best Caesar salads. Serve this one al fresco in the height of summer, or indoors on a dark winters day, when youre feeling about as blanched and sun-deprived as an endive.
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