Endive Salad with Rosemary Croutons and Citrus

This endive salad combines delicately stormy red endive leaves, sweet orange segments, salty parmesan shavings, velvety toasted almonds, and crunchy homemade croutons. It's an easy winter salad recipe that's elegant unbearable for a dinner party, but so succulent you'll want to make it for yourself all year round!

Photo Credits: Andrea Gralow

This trappy endive salad is my favorite way to take wholesomeness of the juicy citrus misogynist at this time of year. And the weightier part? It’s super easy to make. 

The perfect combination of stormy endive, unexceptionable citrus, rich parmesan cheese, and whiffy fresh croutons make this winter salad dinner party-worthy. It's all sweaty in a sherry vinegar and anchovy dressing that's umami-rich and totally irresistible! And finger self-ruling to substitute the anchovies for Kalamata olives to make a vegetarian version.

You can serve this winter salad as an titbit in individually plated portions. Or serve it family-style on a large platter slantingly mains like Roasted Chicken or Cauliflower Steaks. Whichever path you take, prepare to sit when and receive the compliments! 

Food Stories: Inspiration for this Winter Salad Recipe

I was inspired to make this endive salad recipe by an insanely succulent titbit at Chef Ignacio Mattos’ esteemed restaurant, Estela, in New York City. That dish–which was, in my opinion, life-changing!–was served with an zillions of white endive leaves.

The leaves weren't your typical salad greens; Rather, they served as the perfect vessel for scooping up a tasty combination of Ubriaco Rosso cheese, walnuts, and anchovies. He tossed everything in a zesty orange dressing. It was a taste and texture sensation that I still succubus well-nigh to this day!

Here, I have taken the elements and flavors of that iconic dish and turned it into a stunning salad with ingredients you can hands find at scrutinizingly any grocery store. Good quality produce can hold its own, but something well-nigh the marriage of these ingredients hits the spot! 

What is in this Endive Salad Recipe?

The ingredients in this endive salad are highly complementary—a succulent combination of sweetness, acidity, subtle bitterness, and saltiness, withal with various textures and colors. 

• Almond slivers are toasted in a dry skillet until golden brown, enhancing the sweetness and nuttiness! 

• Crusty specie becomes rustic stove-top croutons, bringing a crunchy texture and subtracting a little heartiness to the salad. Ciabatta, French baguette, or focaccia all work well—and it’s a perfect way to use up specie that may have seen largest days! 

• Fresh rosemary leaves add an herbaceous, whiffy savor to the croutons. 

• Extra virgin olive oil crisps up the croutons and adds smoothness to the unexceptionable and severe flavors in the dressing. Use a high-quality uneaten virgin variety, like a smooth Italian Nocellara, or Spanish Hojiblanca for a peppery kick.

• Kosher salt and freshly ground woebegone pepper are used moderately to season. I like to use kosher salt as it’s not aggressively salty, which is helpful when using salty ingredients like anchovies and Parmesan.

• Anchovies are a key ingredient in the dressing. A few canned (or jarred) anchovies in olive oil add an umami and salty kick. If you'd like to make this salad vegetarian, finely mince kalamata olives and replace the anchovies in the dressing with the olives.

• Fresh orange juice, zest, and segments are all used to add citrusy juice bombs and zephyr to each bite! 

• Garlic is finely grated into the dressing for some oomph! 

• Sherry vinegar is nutty and tangy, bringing some ramified venom and zing. It moreover pairs well with the orange and anchovies. 

• Honey adds sweetness to wastefulness the citrusy dressing. 

• Red endive leaves are the salad's foundation and the star of the show! The summery bitterness and crispy texture are the platonic winger to all the ingredients.

What is Endive?

Endive is part of the Chicory family of vegetables which moreover includes escarole, frisée, and radicchio. There are two kinds of endive: Curly and Belgian. Belgian endive is red is untried and shaped a bit like a small American football. It's what I use in this salad recipe. Curly endive is green, and, well, curly. You can use them all interchangeably in this recipe and it will work.

• White endive leaves have very stake untried tips and tend to have a slightly stronger stormy note than their red cousins.

• Red endives are usually misogynist year-round. They are mostly imported from Belgium, which can make them a little pricier than domestic salad leaves. They are worth the splurge! (Trader Joe’s offers a highly affordable philharmonic package of red and white endives if you happen to have a nearby store.) 

• Curly endive, moreover known as frisée, is the lacy lettuce used in the French archetype Salade Lyonnaise. 

• Escarole is a broad-leaf endive popular in Italian cuisine. It is, perhaps, most famously used in Italian wedding soup. It can, however, be difficult to find in the US.

• Radicchio is unexceptionable purple with white veins. It is circular in shape and its leaves form cups. You can grill it or use it in salads like this Radicchio Salad with Pears, Feta and Walnuts.

All endive have a slightly stormy undertone, which is why they can hold up to unvigilant flavors like citrus, smoked fish, undecorous cheese, or salty cheese. Endive is not limited to unprepossessed dishes; they are moreover succulent when you grill or braise them.

To alimony red or white endive well-done and fresh: Wrap each throne in a wateriness paper towel, place in a sealed Ziplock bag, and store in the fridge for up to 4 to 5 days. 

How to Make this Endive Salad Recipe 

You can prepare all of the components for this winter salad recipe a few hours superiority of time. Just be sure to alimony them in separate containers. Dress the salad just surpassing serving so everything stays well-done and crunchy.

Get the Ingredients Ready

• Prep the crouton ingredients: Ready yourself rustic pieces of torn specie of varying sizes–you’ll want well-nigh 2 cups’ worth. Finely chop unbearable rosemary leaves to yield 1 tablespoon. 

• Toast the nuts: In a large dry skillet over medium heat, add ½ cup almond slivers. Cook, stirring until the nuts are golden brown, well-nigh 6 minutes. Transfer to a large plate to cool.

• Make the croutons: Return the skillet to medium heat and add the torn bread. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, then sprinkle with the rosemary and ¼ teaspoon of salt and pepper. Cook, tossing until the specie is toasted, crispy, and golden brown—6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to the plate withal with the nuts to cool. 

• Make the dressing: Finely mince 3 anchovy fillets and add to a large salad bowl. Grate in 1 garlic clove using a microplane or very fine grater (or you can mince it). Squeeze in 2 tablespoons of orange juice. Add 1 ½ tablespoons sherry vinegar and 2 teaspoons honey. Whisk until everything is nicely combined, then protract whisking as you drizzle in 3 tablespoons olive oil. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and whisk until smooth.

• Zest and peel the orange: Zest unbearable orange to get 1 teaspoon of zest and set the zest whispered for later. Trim the top and marrow off 2 oranges. Place each orange on the cut side so it sits flat. Slice withal the silhouette from top to bottom, removing the peel and pith and leaving as much of the juicy orange segments as possible. 

• Segment the orange. You'll see the natural segments of the orange separated by thin membranes. Use a small pocketknife to cut withal each membrane, segmenting the fruit without the stormy pith.

• Prep the endive: Trim off the marrow stem of 4 heads of red endive, then use your hands to pull them untied into individual leaves.

Just surpassing serving: Hoke the salad.

• Mix and dress. To the trencher with the dressing, add the endive leaves, orange segments, rosemary croutons, and toasted almonds. Shave in well-nigh ¾ cup of shaved parmesan. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with a little increasingly salt and woebegone pepper, if desired. Garnish with 1 teaspoon of reserved orange zest. Serve immediately. 

Ways to Make This Winter Salad Recipe Your Own

This endive salad recipe is hands adaptable. You can swap out some of the ingredients to suit your personal taste, what’s misogynist in your fridge, pantry, or at the store. Here are some ideas for alternatives and substitutes:

• Red endive: A mix of white endive and radicchio 

• Blood oranges: Mandarins, cara cara, or any seedless orange segments

• Parmesan cheese: Pecorino Romano or manchego cheese

• Almonds: Hazelnuts or walnuts

• Sherry Vinegar: Red wine vinegar

• Anchovies: If you want to make the dressing vegetarian, add a tablespoon of minced Kalamata olives instead

• Homemade nuts/croutons: Regular store-bought croutons and pre-toasted almond slivers.

What to Serve with Endive Salad

As an titbit or light lunch, this endive salad recipe can hold its own as a solo star player, but it moreover goes well slantingly a piece of grilled salmon or pork chop, as the severe savor cuts through the fattiness of the meat and fish beautifully.

A well-done Pinot Grigio pairs uncommonly well with this salad. In fact, it was tried, tested, and given the seal of clearance by my family at Thanksgiving this year!