Vida's Profile

Just discovered endives... and I think I have a new favorite vegetable. I wasn't sure about the proper way to cook them when I was at the market, but I bought them anyway, expecting to find some guidelines over the internet. I got to my friend's home and, of course, his ADSL wasn't working, so I guessed my way into a side dish surprisingly good: endive, mushroom, potato and fennel salad.

Toss some thin slices of fennel on a vinagrette made with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mirin vinegar and a bit of mustard. Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients.

Put some small potatoes and two pieces of garlic on a hot pan; cover them barely with water and add a generous amount of soy sauce. Let cook, covered, until tender. Strain any water left, add some olive oil and sautée the potatos and the garlic until they brown. As soon as you turn off the fire, toss a handful of fennel leaves on the pan and mix it with the potatoes: they'll stick to the skins and cook quickly, enhancing the fennel flavor.

Rinse the endive leaves and pat them dry; discard the center. Sautée the leaves with olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper until they start getting soft and brown on the edges, but are still crunchy on the center.

Slice the mushrooms and sautée them with a bit of olive oil, some mirin vinegar and salt until tender-but not mushy! You want a chewable consistence.

Mix the mushrooms and endives; drain the sliced fennel and add to the mix. Put some fennel potatoes on top.

The slightly bitter crunch of the endives, the chewy texture of the mushrooms, the starchy comfortfood-ness of the potatoes and the tangy aromatic touch of the sliced fennel with vinegar compliment each other perfectly. Enjoy with a nice tuna steak.
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(When you get home, sautée the couple of endives left, slice an apple, sautée it lightly, mix with mustard vinaigrette, add some nuts... and enjoy again)