Belgian Endives

I first heard of endives through upscale salad / grain bowl restaurants like sweetgreen and cava. These restaurants would often have endives in their salad mixes. One day I saw these at h-mart and decided to give them a try. I had never had them before and was delightfully surprised. I absolutely love the texture and the flavor, and it lends itself perfectly to pan-searing or grilling. Delicious and super easy to prepare. Belgian endives have quickly become one of my favorite vegetables and I'd highly recommend giving it a try!

Active Time: 10 min

Total Time: 10 min


Ingredients

> endives
> lemon zest
> parmigiano reggiano
> olive oil
> salt, pepper


Instructions

1. Wash and halve the endives. You may also want to trim off a tiny bit off the ends.
2. In a pan over medium-high heat with plenty of olive oil, sear the endives flat-side down for a couple of minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Carefully flip them, taking care to keep the outer leaves intact. Sear the other side for a minute or two. Season generously with salt and pepper.
4. Remove endives from pan and set in serving plate. Grate some lemon zest and parmigiano reggiano on top. Serve and enjoy!


Notes/Tips:

> Be generous with the oil, but don't add too much either. Do not add any oil after you've flipped the flat side up. It is easy for oil to get trapped in between the leaves, which would result in a greasy mouth feel. Do be generous with the salt/pepper though, as most of the seasoning will fall off the side.
> Be sparing with the use of lemon zest and parmigiano; you don't need much. I prefer to let the flavor of the endive itself shine. A little bit of lemon zest and parmigiano helps elevate the dish, but too much or using lemon juice can be overpowering.
> This is a really simple, generalizable technique. Try a variety of finishes; I saw a balsamic butter recipe the other day, which looks really interesting.