The other day, I was served a similar salad at a restaurant. It was made with white cabbage and green apple. It’s been a wonderful discovery, I loved it. It was so refreshing and flavorful! I loved the fact that it was so crunchy and juicy… Long story short, I decided to make more green apple salads from now on

Chicory (the Belgian endive kind) is great in salads. Whether it’s served natural or with walnuts and blue cheese, I’m a big fan of it. It sounded perfect to help me recreate the freshness I enjoyed so much in the cabbage salad. This is how these two ended-up together!

This green apple and Belgian endive salad is seasoned with basil and an old fashioned mustard and raspberry vinaigrette. Wonderful fruit flavors, slight mustard taste and tons of juice each time it crunches under your teeth… Enjoy!

Preparation time: 7 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

2 Belgian endives
1 green apple
2 tablespoons of chopped basil
3 tablespoons of olive oil (click here to buy online)
1 tablespoon of raspberry vinegar (click here to buy online)
1/2 teaspoon of old fashioned mustard (click here to buy online)
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/  Rinse and dry endives. Take off the first leaves if they don’t look good. Cut off the hard part and carve a 1/2 inch cone into the end of the stem. Slice endives.

2/ Peel and cut apple into thin strips. (This technique is called Julienne or matchstick cut, it adds texture to the salad.)

3/ Combine endives, green apple and chopped basil in a salad bowl.

4/ Prepare vinaigrette in a smaller bowl: pour raspberry vinegar first, then add olive oil and mustard. Season with salt and pepper. (If you pour olive oil first, elements won’t mix well with each other. Here is the secret to a great vinaigrette… Easy, huh )

5/ Add a pinch of salt on the salad, pour vinaigrette and toss.

6/ Serve right away in small individual bowls or ramekins.

One only appetizer spoons recipe won’t serve you much so we’ll keep on going for several posts . I told you possibilities were endless! You can use salmon chopped ’scraps’, they’re much cheaper and they do fine. All you have to do is mix apple with salmon and Greek yogurt. I don’t know if Greek yogurt is known (or available) in many countries but I found this little explanation on what it is. There is even a recipe if you’re ready to make your own. Granny Smith apples are perfect with salmon and give these appetizer spoons a very pleasant refreshing taste. They’ll be perfect with white wine.

Preparation time: 10 mn

Ingredients (for 10 spoons)

4 smoked salmon slices (or the equivalent in chopped ’scraps’)
1 Greek yogurt
1/2 Granny Smith apple
1/4 cup of lump-fish roe
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Peel, take center out and chop apple.

2/ Cut salmon into small pieces. Set some aside for decoration when spoons are filled.

3/ In a bowl, blend yogurt, salmon, apple dices, oil, salt & pepper.

4/ Fill spoons with the mixture and top with salmon and lump-fish roe.

See…It takes no time and I bet your guests will be impressed