You know those vegetables that you always pass by in the produce section after a quick glance? They look interesting but you’ve never cooked with them before. They sound like they belong on a menu, not a home kitchen. Endives are one of those vegetables for me. Even the pronounciation- “ondeeves” , screams fancy restaurant.

Interestingly, endives are grown in the dark in order to maintain their pale color. They are in the top 10 in the Whole Foods “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index.” A really important reason to eat more endives, per their namesake website, is that one cup of raw endives a week can reduce the chances of ovarian cancer by 75%.

I was skimming through an old edition of “La Cucina Italiana” when I came across this salad calling for curly endives, the more wild cousin of the elegant belgian endive. I decided to stick with elegance and go with regular endives. I made a couple of other changes including roasting the pine nuts to boost the flavor. In the end, it was still “insalata con uva e pinolo.”

Print Chicory Salad with Grapes and Pinenuts Total Time: 20 minutes Ingredients 1 Granny Smith apple 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 3 belgian endives 2 dozen red grapes 3 tablespoons pinenuts 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar salt and pepper to taste Method Roast the pinenuts for about 5 minutes in a 350°F oven. While they are roasting, chop the endives and add to a large bowl. Peel and cube the green apples, combine with the endives. Add the grapes. Mix the olive oil and vinegar in a small bowl. Add the roasted pinenuts to the salad. Drizzle the dressing into the salad and gently toss. Salt and pepper to taste. Notes Adapted from La Cucina Italiana, October 2010 edition 3.1 http://globalveg.com/2014/12/24/endivesalad/ Copyright: Global Veg