5 Minute Belgian Endive Salad with Apples and Walnuts

Martha M. Henze, MPH, MS, RDN - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Global Public Health Epidemiologist

Looking for an interesting winter lettuce to spruce up your evening dinner? Try a classic Belgian endive salad which is traditionally a combination of endive, apples, cheese, and walnuts.

Belgian endive salad is a traditional mixture of endive, apples, cheese, and walnuts. Both curly endive, also known as frisee, and Belgian endive have a slightly bitter taste which adds a unique twist to a salad. Many pre-made salad mixtures contain endive because of its distinctive shape and flavor. The leaves of Belgian endive are shaped like a canoe which provide a great base for an appetizer when topped with feta cheese, cranberries, and walnuts.

In the 1960's endive used to be the premier salad green in winter. Endive is a good source of vitamin K, essential to promote clotting of your blood, and vitamin A and vitamin C, which are valuable to strengthen your immune system and may help prevent winter colds.

Be creative and make it your own!

Enjoy the recipe below; however, note that there are variations you can try in terms of different types of cheese and varieties of endive for other unique flavors.

Cheese: Strong-flavored cheese, such as Gruyere or Roquefort

Lettuce: Radicchio, Escarole, and Curly Endive (also known as frisee)

Belgian Endive, Apple and Walnut Salad

Yield: 4 servings
Nutrition facts per serving
Calories: 251, 18g fat, 16g carbohydrate, 10g protein, 9.3g dietary fiber, 244 mg sodium

Ingredients

• 2 heads of endive
• 1 apple with skin, medium, about 2.5-inch diameter
• 3 ounces of Swiss cheese
• 1/4 cup walnuts shelled (50 halves)
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive or extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar, white
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon chives, fresh, chopped

Instructions

1. Wash, dry, and chop endive lettuce. Place in a large bowl.
2. Wash and core apple. Cut into cubes and add to bowl.
3. Cut cheese into cubes and add to bowl.
4. In dry skillet, heat walnuts until aromatic, stirring as they heat up.
5. In a small bowl, mix together vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, and pepper.
6. Pour vinegar mixture over salad.

This Belgian Endive Salad is one of hundreds of dietitian-curated recipes available with the Premium membership!

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Reviewed and updated by Brenda Braslow on February 2, 2023.

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Foods & Recipes->Fruit & Vegetables Foods & Recipes->Salads

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