Endive w/ Blue Cheese, Orange & Walnuts

endive blue cheese orange walnuts

It’s a salad you can eat with your hands. My mom calls these “little boats.” I call them a perfect party food. Bursting with fresh flavor, Endive with Blue Cheese, Orange & Walnuts makes a perfect addition to a cocktail or dinner party. Besides offering a lighter option to the usual cheese and crackers, it’s a great way to serve the salad to guests while you’re still working on dinner.

Fresh orange, honey-toasted walnuts and blue cheese sit on a Belgian endive leaf, drizzled with a balsamic-orange reduction and sprinkled with fresh chives and salt and pepper.

endive - close spears

These became a staple at Husband’s annual Christmas party that we hosted for years. They’ve been so popular that a caterer I work with asked for the recipe. {I traded her for another home-run appetizer recipe.}

5.0 from 2 reviews
Endive with Blue Cheese, Orange and Walnuts
Author: 
Serves: 8 servings (serving size: 2 stuffed leaves)
 
Ingredients
  • ⅓ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
  • 2 tablespoons honey, divided
  • cooking spray
  • ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons orange juice
  • 16 belgian endive leaves (about 2 heads)
  • ⅓ cup (1½ ounces) crumbled blue cheese
  • 16 small oranges sections (about 2 navel oranges)
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
  • ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350¡. Combine walnuts and 1 tablespoon honey; spread on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350¡ for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.
  2. Combine 1 tablespoon honey, vinegar, and orange juice in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, and cook until reduced to 3 tablespoons (about 5 minutes).
  3. Fill each endive leaf with 1 orange section. Top each section with 1 teaspoon cheese and 1 teaspoon walnuts; arrange on a plate. Drizzle the vinegar mixture evenly over leaves, and sprinkle evenly with chives and pepper.

Variation Make a BLT-version! Mix sliced grape tomatoes with some chopped fresh thyme and chives, a little champagne vinegar, a splash of olive oil and salt and pepper. Fill endive leaves. Sprinkle with bacon crumbles.

endive vertical

Serving these at a cocktail party?  Let your guests know what they’re eating with these apped’oeuvre place cards.

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