Forkless Red Endive and Tapenade Salad

Posted by Gabi on Mon, January 18, 2010

Things have been extra-busy lately. If I'm not at work, I'm working from home, working in an internet cafe, or driving to or from work. Still, a girl has got to eat, and foodie that I am, no matter how busy I get, the food I eat needs to be fresh and delicious. Thankfully, my refrigerator holds several jars of all three flavors of tapenades from The Olive Press.  {image1} These versatile jars of deliciousness mean that, at the end of an exhausting day, I am just moments away from dinner. Whether I spread it on a sandwich, spoon it over pan-roasted fish, chicken or tofu, toss it with hot pasta, or spread it over toasted baguette slices, I'm eating well in just minutes.

Sometimes, I'm so busy that I don't even have time for silverware. OK…maybe that's an exaggeration, but this pretty salad comes together in moments and crisp endive makes a wonderful, edible "scooper" for the tapenade. If you can't find red endive, regular endive is fine.

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Ingredients

8 small heads of red endive, washed, sliced in half lengthwise, cored

3 tbsp medium-intensity extra virgin olive oil, like Mission Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon

2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 cup dried cranberries

1/8 cup raw almonds, chopped

1/3 cup your favorite tapenade from The Olive Press

Freshly-cracked pepper to taste

Directions

Arrange endive in a circular pattern, as pictured on four salad plates. Drizzle each plate of endive lightly with the olive oil and lemon juice. Spoon a dollop of tapenade in the center of each circle of endive, so it looks like a flower. Top each endive flower with a sprinkle of Parmesan and equal amounts of the dried cranberries and almonds. Garnish lightly with pepper.

Eat by using the endive leaves to scoop up other ingredients.

Serves 4.