Berries are one of my go-to snacks. I often incorporate strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries into my breakfasts. And berries in desserts make me oh-so happy. But I have to be honest. I have been longing to try to incorporate fresh berries into my main meals, and I am not just talking about eating them on the side or eating pancakes for dinner. Nope. I wanted to attempt to be fancy and actually cook with them.
Whether or not I succeeded is still yet to be determined. They certainly are pretty though, right? (don’t answer that if you disagree)
And, as it turns out, they pair quite well with a new-to-me vegetable: endive.
Endive is somewhat of a funny looking vegetable, but the colors sure are vibrant and attractive. And if that has not convinced you enough to give endive a try, then maybe the nutritional benefits will. Endive is an excellent source of calcium, vitamins, and minerals, it contains a high amount of fiber, it promotes digestive health, and one leaf contains only one calorie. Possibly most impressive is the fact that eating one cup of raw endive per week can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by 75% (source). Pretty amazing, right?
Now if you are wondering how you should go about eating this raw veggie, I highly recommend adding it to smoothies and serving it in the form of a salad. It is National Salad Month, after all, so what could be more fitting?
I have tried it in smoothies and you could not even taste it, but for this recipe I decided to go with the salad theme and made two salads in one. A chickpea and raspberry salad served within the endive salad leaves. Because you can never have too much salad.
Chickpea and Raspberry Salad Endive Boats
Serves: 2 as an appetizer or 1 as an entree
Ingredients
2/3 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 stalk celery, diced
1 TB dried chopped onion
2 TB vegan mayonaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
fine sea salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
10 fresh Driscoll’s raspberries, halved
8 to 10 California endive leaves
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients except for the raspberries and endive in a medium bowl and stir until well-combined.
2. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
3. Just before serving, genthly fold in the sliced raspberries.
4. Serve the salad in endive leaves.
This is such a simple appetizer or lunch to throw together in under 10 minutes. You cannot beat that, right? Just prep this up an hour or so before and you are good to go when lunch time rolls around.
If you are a chickpea salad lover like I am, do yourself a favor and add a little hint of sweetness next time.
For more endive recipes click here, and for more berrie recipes click here. I think we all need a plethora of endive, berries, and salads in our lives, don’t you?
Disclaimer: I was provided with free product from California Endive and Driscoll’s Berries, but was not compensated in any other way. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.
