Endive Salad with Plantain Chips

Endive has a rather bitter flavor and you either like it or you don’t. This recipe sort of masks the real bitterness of it yet brings to attention the wonderful crisp texture. The dressing in this salad is almost like guacamole with the same wonderful smooth taste and the plantain chips add the perfect amount of crunch.

Ingredients -

2 Whole Endives, leaves separated, washed and drained
1/2 Large Tomato, diced into tiny cubes
1 Large Avocado, roughly diced
8 Cloves Garlic, finely minced
1/4 Red Onion, finely minced
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
2 Tablespoons Cilantro, finely chopped
5 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Salt + Salt for Sprinkling on Plantains
Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
1 Large Plantain
Vegetable Oil, for deep frying

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil on medium high heat in a pot.
Slice the plantains on the diagonal thinly.
Fry the plantains one handful at a time until they are crisp and golden yellow.
Drain them on a paper towel and sprinkle them lightly with salt.
Set aside.
Set 3 to 4 endive leaves on each serving plate.
Sprinkle the diced tomatoes over the endive.
Using a food processor, blend the avocado, olive oil and lemon juice until smooth.
Set them in a mixing bowl.
Add the garlic, onion, salt and pepper and stir well.
Drizzle the avocado mixture evenly over the endive generously.
Garnish with chopped parsley and serve plantain chips on side.

Cooking Tip

Plantain Chips

The key to a good plantain is to make sure you have a ripe one that is firm but brown in color. Un-ripened plantains are bitter. The other key is to make sure that you slice them thinly and evenly so that they cook up the same.

Cooking Tip

Avocado Tip

It’s best to buy a firm avocado that just squeezes a little when you are testing it. Avocado’s that are really darkly brown and soft usually have brown spots when you open them up and they don’t hold up well and become mush when you try to stir them in with the rest of the ingredients.