grilled endive

We've been getting endives in our CSA share pretty often this summer. They're awfully cute, and the leaves hold their structure well enough that they make great little boats for serving small portions.

But as cute as endives are, they are very bitter, so there are only so many salads I want to use them in. You may remember from my June post on Grilled Romaine Hearts that I like everything better grilled, so I decided to use the same method on endives. (To see how to do it yourself, check out the grilled romaine hearts entry. It's the same, though I found the endive took about a minute longer to cook.)

I thought some of the bitterness would cook off, but it does not, so I recommend either drizzling a creamy or sweet salad dressing or sauce over it, or serving it alongside something bland and/or something sweet, to help cut the bitterness.

Endive is bitter, especially this late in the season, but it's also a really interesting flavor, one that can add a kick to your meal. Just make sure you play it off more neutral flavors!