Break out of your salad rut with some California Endive. It makes a great base for your favourite salad toppings, like avocado, bacon and chipotle ranch dressing!
I want to be clear that this blog is not truly representative of what I eat, day to day. If you were to judge my diet simply by the recipes you see here, you would think all I ever ate were muffins, cookies and cake, with the occasional entree, and savoury dish. Truth be told, I feature baked goods and desserts so prominently mostly because they photograph easily and I can make them in the middle of the day for good lighting. Main courses are definitely harder, because I want them to be as fresh as possible for my family to eat and I don’t want to hold them up while I scramble for photos. I am quite certain that doing so would put my very patient and understanding husband right over the edge, because when he’s hungry, he’s hungry! So if I have a main dish I want to feature, I am usually left trying to warm up with leftovers the next day and make them look freshly cooked.
And you might think I don’t eat a lot of veggies because there are relatively few salads and side dishes on All Day I Dream About Food. But nothing could be further from the truth. Vegetables and I are very good friends and I usually eat many servings per day. In fact, I often have salad for breakfast. That’s the straight up truth. Actually, I usually have it for “second breakfast”, after a run or a workout. I come home, grab some veggies, chop them, dress them and proceed to stuff my face. I’ve discovered that salad early on in the day is a great way to feel healthy and full. A well-dressed, flavourful salad is as filling and satisfying as anything else, and you have the added benefit of feeling virtuous after eating it.
I was once again asked to join the OnDiva campaign, to get the word out there on this versatile, delicious and healthy vegetable. And I am more than happy to do so, because I love it. I’ve decided that I like it best raw, as a scoop for dips and chopped up in salads. I sometimes use it in addition to regular lettuce and sometimes to replace the lettuce altogether. I love the crunchy texture and the flavour, and they go with pretty much anything. For this recipe, it suddenly popped in my head how much I’d love some serious Southwestern flavour. Some endive, some avocado, some tomatoes, some crumbled bacon and a seriously spicy Chipotle Ranch dressing and I am in salad heaven. I ate this as a main course the first night and proceeded to make it again for second breakfast the next day (after I got a few photos!).
And when I had a little leftover ranch dressing, I proceeded to use endive leaves to scoop it up as a snack. Honestly, you can’t let these goodies go to waste!
This post is sponsored by Discover Endive. All opinions are my own.
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ to 1 chipotle pepper in adobo minced
- 1 tsp dried dill weed
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 4 heads California Endive ends removed, chopped
- 1 avocado chopped
- 1 cup grape tomatoes chopped
- 8 slices bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
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For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a sealable glass jar and shake vigorously.
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For the salad, divide chopped endive among four salad plates. Sprinkle with avocado, tomatoes, bacon and cheese.
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Drizzle with 1 tbsp dressing and pass the remaining dressing at the table.
Serves 4. Each serving has 10.7 g of carbs and 6 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 4.7 g.
Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
I’ve never had endive. But it looks great!
Agne says
Ooh I love endive, its one of national dishes here in the Netherlands, I will definitelly make this!
Bon Stewart says
Salsa would also be great with this. My favorite salsa is at demystifycooking.com. It is easy one.
Cookin Canuck says
I love everything about this salad. The endive (love the flavor), the smoky bacon and the kick from the chipotles. This is a great way to get out of the regular salad rut.
Kelly says
what happened with including the picture when you to to print the recipe?
claire @ the realistic nutritionist says
Oh this looks healthy and oh so delicious!
Diane says
Can you give us the carb count on the dressing alone?
Carolyn says
If you do the full 2 tbsp of dressing, it’s about 3 g per serving. I never do use the full 2 tbsp myself with any dressing, I find it too much.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
This looks sooo good! I love everything about it, especially the dressing!
Brian @ A Thought For Food says
HAHAHA! I know.. I wonder how many people think I eat crap all day because of the recipes I put up (the trick is to give them away). Love this chopped salad. And bacon isn’t really meat, right?
Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies says
I feel a little bit ashamed that I’ve never had endive before. I always eye it at the grocery store, but don’t quite know how to tackle it. I’m going to have to give it a try!
Winnie says
Great recipe! My whole family will love this 🙂
lisaiscooking says
Endive and avocado is a great combo! Sounds great with the chipotle ranch too. Endive leaves are so perfect for scooping–just the thing to do with extra leaves.
Terra says
I haven’t stopped by in awhile, I hope you are doing well! It is funny, my blog posts are so random. Most of the time my posts revolve around my cravings LOL! Your salad looks fabulous! I don eat endive enough, I did grill endive last year, it was fabulous! Hugs, Terra
Jeanette says
I love the sounds of this dressing Carolyn – Greek Yogurt is one of my favorite ingredients these days!
shelly (cookies and cups) says
Oh that ranch dressing! Yes please!
PDXGirl says
I have been meaning to comment on this. I just make the dressing I triple the recipe and go through it 2x’s weekly. It is by far the more delicious dressing I have ever tasted. I use sour cream instead of the yogurt lower carbs.