Endive & Gorgonzola Salad

This is yet another recipe inspired by our trip to Lisbon. We ate at an awesome steakhouse one night and one of the sides we ordered was endives with goat cheese and walnuts. They came in individual leaf cups, which I was way too lazy to do myself so I turned the whole thing into a salad.

Ingredients [serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side]:
6 to 8 endives, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 oz. gorgonzola, crumbled
2 tablespoons pepitas (or nut of your choice)
1 scallion, chopped

Start by making the simple vinaigrette. Combine mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl and whisk to combine. The mustard will help the oil and lemon juice emulsify.

Roughly chop the endives, add them to a bowl, and toss with the dressing.

Add in the gorgonzola, pepitas, and scallions and toss before serving immediately.

We enjoyed our salad with some grilled wings seasoned with lemon juice and piri piri spice, rice, and homemade ginger ale. It was a perfect crisp and fresh accompaniment. This salad is bright and punchy thanks to the lemon and gorgonzola and actually, next time I might throw in some crumbled bacon. The endives are robust and stand up to the strong flavors of the vinaigrette and dressing. They have a pretty good crunch but I think the addition of the nuts adds even better texture to the whole thing.

Here's the recipe page: