Endive Salad with Orange and Walnuts

This Endive Salad with Orange and Walnuts is tossed in an orange vinaigrette and tossed with Pecorino-Romano, toasted walnuts and fresh orange segments. This salad is inspired by the famous endive salad at Estela restaurant in New York.

What is Endive?

Belgian Endive is a part of the chicory family, which also includes other lettuces such as radicchio, escarole, frisee and curly endive. It has a root at one end and you can pull the leaves away from the root. The leaves have a delicious crisp texture that are refreshing with a teeny-tiny bitter flavor.

How Do You Pronounce Endive?

Listen, I’m not a pronunciation gatekeeper. I truly think you should pronounce it how you like. But since you asked (you didn’t), I’ll tell you that I pronounce it like “ON-DEEV”. Others pronounce it “EN-DIVE”. I believe that “on-deev” refers to this Belgian Endive and “en-dive” refers to the curly endive.

How To Make This Endive Salad with Orange and Walnuts

1. Toast the walnuts. I love toasting these walnuts in olive oil, a few pinches of salt, black pepper and a pinch of crushed red pepper. As a result, you’ll have delicious, fragrant walnuts. Set them aside to cool.
2. Make a garlic and anchovy paste. I like to mince up the garlic and smash it into a paste. The anchovy gets in there too. This ends up being a broken-like dressing.
3. Add the anchovy/garlic paste to a large bowl, along with the olive oil, orange juice, lemon juice and a few rounds of black pepper.
4. Next, whisk the dressing until it’s smooth. Give it a taste and adjust the salt to your liking.
5. Add the endive leaves and toss them in the dressing. Next, add the shredded cheese, walnuts and toss one last time.
6. Plate the salad and arrange the orange segments on top and add some additional cheese.

Inspired by Estela Restaurant

If you’ve ever been to Estela Restaurant in New York, you might’ve had their famous Endive Salad. It has crushed and toasted walnuts, with cubes of cheese, croutons at the bottom of the plate. They call it the granola. The endive salad that’s tossed in an orange vinagrette is placed on top. It’s on of the most beautiful and delicious salads I’ve ever had.

This salad is inspired by Estela’s salad. Minus the cheese and croutons and a few other steps). Over the years, I’ve made abbreviated versions of the Estela salad and I love this version, too.

Tips and Tricks

• This salad dressing can be made up to two days ahead. As a result, it makes it a super easy salad to throw together.
• If you want to add croutons, you can do that. I would toast them in the oven with some olive oil and salt and pepper.
• Endive is usually in season from September through May. I found purple and yellow endive.
• If you want to use other forms of chicory for this salad, do it!

If you make this Endive Salad with Orange and Walnuts, let me know on Instagram!

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe

Endive Salad with Orange and Walnuts

Author: Adrianna Adarme

This Endive Salad is tossed in an orange vinaigrette and tossed with Pecorino-Romano, toasted walnuts and fresh orange segments. This salad is inspired by the famous endive salad at Estela restaurant in New York.

Course: Appetizer, Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 5 minutes mins

Total Time: 15 minutes mins

Serving Size: 2

Ingredients

Walnuts:

• ▢ 1 cup walnuts (roughly chopped)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ▢ Kosher salt + black pepper
• ▢ Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Dressing:

• ▢ 2 clove of garlic (peeled)
• ▢ 2 anchovy fillets
• ▢ 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ▢ Juice from 1/2 naval orange
• ▢ Juice from 1/2 lemon
• ▢ Kosher salt + black pepper

Salad:

• ▢ 4 endives (ends trimmed, leaves separated and washed and dried)
• ▢ 2 ounces Pecorino-Romano (shaved or grated)
• ▢ 1/2 naval orange (segmented)

Instructions

To Toast the Walnuts:

• In a skillet, set over medium heat, add the olive oil, walnuts and add a few pinches of kosher salt, a couple rounds of freshly ground pepper and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Toss until fragrant and toasted, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

To Make the Dressing:

• On a cutting board, mince up the garlic cloves and begin to mash it with the back of your knife. Add the anchovy fillets and mince those up and using the back of your knife, make a paste with the two of them together. Scoop them up off the cutting board and place them in a large bowl. Pour in the olive oil, juice from 1/2 orange and juice from 1/2 lemon. Add a few pinches of kosher salt and some black pepper. Whisk it until smooth. Give it a taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

To Assemble the Salad:

• Add the endive leaves to the bowl and toss with the dressing. Give one a taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Add the cheese, toasted walnuts and toss once more.
• Transfer to a serving plate. Arrange more cheese on top and some more black pepper.

Notes

Tips and Tricks

• This salad dressing can be made up to two days ahead. The salad uses 1/2 naval orange for the dressing and then the segments from the other half are used on top of the salad.
• If you want to add croutons, you can do that. I would toast them in the oven with some olive oil and salt and pepper.
• Endive is usually in season from September through May. I found purple and yellow endive.
• If you want to use other forms of chicory for this salad, I bet it would be delicious.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 250kcal (13%) | Carbohydrates: 13g (4%) | Protein: 20g (40%) | Fat: 77g (118%) | Saturated Fat: 13g (81%) | Cholesterol: 32mg (11%) | Sodium: 348mg (15%) | Potassium: 522mg (15%) | Fiber: 7g (29%) | Sugar: 2g (2%) | Vitamin A: 162IU (3%) | Vitamin C: 4mg (5%) | Calcium: 385mg (39%) | Iron: 2mg (11%)

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