Endive Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

Course Salad

Servings 2 to 3

Ingredients

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar (see Kitchen Notes)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 – 3 largish heads Belgian endive (see Kitchen Notes)
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (see Kitchen Notes)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Roast walnuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes. You can also toast walnuts in a dry skillet on the stove top for 5 or so minutes, but stir frequently to keep them from burning. Transfer walnuts to a plate to cool completely. Break any walnut halves into smaller pieces by hand. Some recipes say to chop them, but I think breaking them by hand works better—chopping is more mechanical and destructive, creating lots of teeny little crumbs.
While walnuts are roasting, whisk olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper together to make dressing. Set aside.
Trim off the very base of the head of endive with a knife. Carefully remove 10 or so outer leaves one at a time. You’ll probably need to slice off more of the base as you go along. If any leaves break or are less than visually perfect, reserve them to chop up for the blue cheese/walnut mixture. Rinse leaves and carefully pat dry with paper towel. Arrange in a radial pattern on plate.
Slice remainder of endive head in half lengthwise, rinse under running water and shake dry, then slice crosswise into 1/2-inch [or less] strips. Place in large bowl with walnut pieces and crumbled blue cheese and toss with dressing. Mound mixture in center of whole endive leaves and serve. Use the endive leaves to scoop up the cheese/walnut mixture.

Kitchen Notes

Vinegar and dressing. I made absolutely the most basic vinaigrette for this dish to allow the blue cheese, walnuts and slightly bitter endive flavors to shine through. I used white balsamic vinegar because regular balsamic would have discolored the blue cheese.

Any white wine vinegar will do. Regarding the dressing, you’ll note I used a modest amount, just enough to gloss the salad and add a little tangy flavor. No need to drown it.

Endive. When I make this dish, I usually use two heads. And every time, I think I should buy a third next time, just in case some of the leaves are less than beautiful. And greedily speaking, the extra head would make for more scooping leaves and filling. We usually end up finishing off the filling—every last molecule of it [yes, it’s that good]—with forks.

Blue cheese. You want a fairly firm blue cheese, one that will hold up and not go all creamy gooey on you. I sometimes find Maytag blue at Whole Foods, a delicious, much sought after cheese made in, of all places, central Iowa. And yes, made by those Maytags, the family that made the appliances. Since the ’40s, they’ve aged their wheels of cheese in caves, long before the word artisanal was connected to food.