Crisp, refreshing and pleasantly bitter, endive leaves make the perfect palette for herbed cream cheese reminiscent of classic Green Goddess salad dressing. These leaves make an easy, light appetizer for New Year’s Eve and other celebrations accompanied by a glass of Champagne, sparkling wine, or sparkling mineral water.
Green Goddess Flavors – Herbs and Lemon
When I’m catering parties and my clients want a crudites platter, I pair it with my version of Green Goddess dip. This time, I’ve made it a bit thicker, using cream cheese as the base. The flavors burst with the bright flavors of fresh herbs and lemon.
Packed with fresh tarragon, parsley, dill, chives, and a little lemon, pipe the filling into the leaves for an elegant presentation. If you can find chervil, that’s good too. For easier, more casual presentation, spoon it into a bowl to use as a dip for the leaves and add whole grain crackers.
About Endive
If you’ve never tried endive, here’s your opportunity. Prized around the world, endive is the elegant member of the chicory family. This family includes escarole and curly endive, most often used for salad greens.
Endive is difficult to grow, going through a two-step growth process. There’s interesting information on the Discover Endive website. It’s not only pretty, coming in both red and white colors, but it’s really good for you! For buying and storage tips, read here.
Then and Now
Green Goddess was popular from the 1920′s through the 1980′s then practically disappeared after the advent of Ranch dressing. Some say the original was created by a chef at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel, named for a hit 1920′s play. Some say it heralds back to the chef for French King Louis XIII. Either way, the flavors work great for how we eat today. You could even spread it on bread for a terrific turkey sandwich. Try it with endive leaves for an elegant New Year’s Eve appetizer or for any party.
Endive Leaves with Green Goddess Cream
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup Mayonnaise or Vegenaise
- Zest from one small lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped tarragon
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill plus extra for garnish if desired
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped Italian parsley
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
- 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste optional, but provides a depth of flavor, add more if desired
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4-6 heads Belgian endive
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together until smooth. Refrigerate until needed. Taste and adjust to your preferences. It’s best made a few hours or a day ahead so the flavors have time to meld and develop.
- When well chilled, place filling into a piping bag with a star or French tip. Trim the stem end of the endive leaves and carefully peel the leaves off of the base of the head so you have individual leaves. Place on a platter and fill from the piping bag. Alternatively, spoon the filing into a small bowl or ramekin and serve the endive leaves and crackers around it for guests to help themselves.
Sal, this blog entry turned out great. Thanks for the links. Pretty interesting to watch the creative process with you and Kent and see the finished result. Happy New Year!
One cup of endive per week can reduce ovarian cancer by 75%!! Wow, who knew? Beautiful for a New Year’s appetizer, but even more relevant to eating in the new year! This would make a great healthy snack to have around for getting through the stretch from lunch to dinner. Such pretty, festive photos. I don’t think I’ve seen red endive in the Northeast, but will have to keep my eye out for them.
Sally, How beautiful. I wish I had had this dish to take to my sister’s for Christmas dinner. She and I were running a little late with dinner, and some family members were showing it. She said I should remind her to have a few low-fat hors d’oeuvres so “this” did not happen again. So I guess that is my job now; heehee. Thank you for this recipe. It is just the thing. Ironically she has just found endive and was saying how good it is. I will have to share with her the health benefits. Oh, I almost forgot – tarragon is her favorite herb.
this is gorgeous. I don’t even like green goddess, but want to eat this whole plate!!
Beautiful! I love endive leaves filled with all kinds of things!
Hello…this is a fabulous recipe, IM very interested in trying it. A quick question tho…will the endive start to get soggy if I pre-fill an hour b4 event? I would keep refrigerated of course!
Ty for your recipe!!!
Renee’
Hi Renee. An hour ahead and you’ll be fine. Endive is pretty crisp, and do keep them refrigerated (and covered). You don’t even need to fill them as full as the photo shows. Less works too. Hope you enjoy!
Oh, this looks wonderful and is making me hungry! I just received some beautiful endive in my farm box and can’t wait to make this for my next get together with my friend next door.
May I ask why you suggested Veganaise in the recipe? I though at first it was a vegan recipe, but then noticed that there was sour cream and cream cheese and anchovy paste.
Hi Blair. It is not categorized as a vegan recipe. Veganiase is a brand of ready made mayonnaise that i think is very good. It has no eggs and comes made with a variety of oils. Look for it in the refrigerated list of your market. I think it’s a lot better than most off the shelf stuff. Hope that helps. Another option is to make your own homemade mayonnaise. That the best, and what I have been doing a lot lately. When I don’t have time, I’ll use Veganaise.