Glorious Greens
By Peter G • Jul 12th, 2008 • Category: Recipes
I picked up this wonderful witlof recently at the markets in an effort to try and incorporate more greens into my winter diet. There is so much information on the web about this vegie, that I was really overwhelmed by it all! It’s otherwise known as endive and is related to the chicory family. (or is endive something else???…too many conflicting articles). Whatever the case, its shaped like a big fat Cuban (the cigar variety thanks!) and it has predominantly white leaves that turn green towards the top. It has a slight bitter taste and can be used raw in salads or you can peel the leaves and use them as a ’scoop’ for dips.
My method of cooking it was easy. I placed my chargrill pan on a high heat and cooked it on both sides for a couple of minutes. Whilst it was warm, I drizzled it with a mixture of Greek extra virgin olive oil (thanks to my relatives in Greece!), freshly squeezed lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Simple. No other fancy schmancy ingredients. Once cooked it had lost some of its bitterness and was almost sweet. It was a great side to some chicken I had made the other day.
I’ll be doing a small series of “gorious greens” over the next few days. I have been inspired by Helen from Food Stories who’s in the middle of doing her “summer salads” series. Whist mine will not be as elaborate as hers, do yourselves a favour and check out her wonderful summer inspired salads.
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Peter G is a passionate foodie of Greek descent living in Australia. You'll usually find him cooking up a storm in the kitchen and photographing all his exploits.
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Yep, that’s endive and it’s remarkable how the flavour of this green changes when grilled.
I have never heard of it before. I have a new item on my list of new ingredients to try. Thanks for the info!
Looks fantastic! Nice grill marks.
I’ve never thought of grilling endive - what a wonderful idea!
Gorgeous endive! And I’m looking forward to the series.
Simple and beautiful idea and I bet it can withstand the grill better than a lettuce…I love how all the ingredients and props all fall in the same color scheme in the first shot.
Have never seen this before Peter. What’s it called in Greek. I looked it up in the dictionary and it said antidi. However, antidia, is totally a different thing.
It is the same as Belgian endive, and is related to chicory (you got both of those right), but chicory is actually a member of the aster family (along with sunflowers, artichokes and lettuce), not its own family. That’s your botany lesson of the day.
I love grilled endive - I do mine with a warm anchovy vinaigrette.
Peter-it takes on a new dimension when cooked
Ben-try it you will love it.
Marc-cheers!..glad you liked it.
Jen-give it a go!
eatingclub- it will be just some fun dishes, nothing too extravagant
MPG-simplicity i the name of the game
Ivy- yes it is related to αντιδι however not the same ones as in Greece. Heather gives a great explanation
Heather-thank you for that. I knew you’d have the answer to this question. The warm anchovy vinaigrette sounds fantastic.
Beautiful stripes on the Belgian endive! I’ve braised it but haven’t tried grilling it. That slight bitterness goes great with chicken, doesn’t it?
I am quite fed up with my limited knowledge on cooking certain veg. Need to remember to buy and try it next time when going to shop.
Hey Peter - thanks for the shout out! I’m glad I’ve inspired you to do a little mini series, I had loads of fun doing mine. This looks glorious and I can’t wait to see the other recipes you come up with. Your food is always fantastic - and your photography of course. The new site really makes the pictures stand out. Endives are really underrated I think and this is great - I’m going to try grilling mine next time too.
I don’t think I’ve ever had endive before. It’s so expensive here! But I really want to try it. This looks delicious.
Hola Chico!!! Finally got my things together and have some free time to have a walk through my favourite foodie blogs… and yours is overwhelming (did I spell this right?). Estoy con la boca abierta… with two purposes… first to eat your delicious food and second because this is more than a blog… it’s a web/blog food magazine :D. I love it darling!!! Don’t know where to start with!
I have never grilled my endibias, I love them raw and with olive oil on top but your dish suggestion is very tempting :D. I’ll give this one a try!
Endive is so lovely grilled… I’ll be quite excited to follow your “glorious greens” feature. We get overly excited about greens at our house during this time of the year. So much great stuff available at the market!
What perfect looking witlof! I certainly don’t eat enough of it!