Endive....How do you pronounce it anyhow???

As usual, when answering a question, it depends on who you ask.  But before we get to how to pronounce endive, let's get to what endive is exactly.

Endive is an unusual and most useful plant.  It is part of the chicory family and is actually the blossom of a root.  Have you ever seen escarole, radicchio or frisee in the grocery store among all the many greens there?  Well, it turns out they are all considered endive.

Endive is a bitter leafy vegetable, rich in many vitamins and minerals, especially folate and vitamins A, B and K, not to mention fiber.

The following photos will give you an idea of what the various endive plants look like: 

Escarole, or broad-leaved endive has broad, pale green leaves and is less bitter than the other varieties. Varieties or names include broad-leaved endive, Bavarian endive, Batavian endive, grumolo, scarola, and scarole. It is eaten like other greens, sauteed, chopped into soups and stews, or as part of a green salad.

Escarole Endive

·  Radicchio is a brilliantly magenta colored set of leaves. The most commonly available radicchio is Chioggia radicchio that looks like a small cabbage, and, in fact, resembles a looser-leafed and whiter-ribbed version of red cabbage.

Radicchio

Unlike flat leaf endive, with its tightly closed heads, curly endive looks a bit like an untended lion's mane. Curly endive, also known as frisée, has a slightly shorter shelf life than other chicories and keeps best if treated like lettuces leaves.

Curly leaf (Frisee) Endive

And now our personal favorite!

Belgian endive is extremely pale yellow in color, almost white.  It has tightly packed leaves growing long and narrow.  It is grown in the dark, which stops chlorophyll from developing and keeps the leaves white.  

Belgian Endive

The reason Belgian Endive is our favorite is because we really like the idea of edible bowls.  And this sort of endive is perfect for that very thing.  When you cut off the bottom of this endive you are left with many leaves that can be filled with all manner of yummy foods.  We will be providing a few ideas for your next party to serve as appetizers.

Let's start with a simple salsa and endive.

Endive boats with salsa

Here's what you need:

1 large Belgian endive, cleaned and leaves separated
1 large tomato *finely chopped
4 tablespoons sweet onions, finely chopped

4  tablespoons green pepper finely chopped
3 tablespoons jicama finely chopped

1 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Here's what you need to do:

Combine everything except the endive in bowl and let sit for about an hour to allow all the flavors to marry.  Fill each individual endive leaf with 2 tablespoons of salsa.  Serve! 

* it is important to finely chopped your ingredients so it fits nicely inside your endive bowl.

 Here are some other combinations to put together to fill your boats:

 Chopped Apples

Choppped Walnuts

Crumbled Blue Cheese

or

Chopped Tomatoes

Chopped fresh Basil

Diced mozzarella cheese

Balsamic Vinegar**

Olive Oil**

**Always be sure to use a good quality vinegar and oil when making your dressing.  It makes all the difference!

or 

Left over chicken, chopped

Asparagus chopped

Red Bell Pepper chopped

Parmasan Cheese grated

Splash of lemon juice

Black Pepper

or

anything you want!!  We love edible bowls!!  

Oh, yes....back to how to pronounce the word Endive.  After a bit of research, we found that, once again, there is minor controversy here.  Some say EN-dive.  Some say en-DIVE.  Some say ahn-DEEVE.  Some say AHN-deeve. To-ma-to To-mah-to.  Whatever you decide to say is fine with the 2 Prickly Pears.

What we do say is go out and make something good.....and you can eat the bowl too!