This endive salad recipe is a mix of refreshing, tangy and sweet! Combine this bitter green with orange, Parmesan and red wine vinaigrette.

Need a great winter salad? Try this Endive Salad: equal parts refreshing, tangy, bitter, crunchy, and tangy! Bitter endive pairs perfectly with juicy orange and a sweet tart red wine vinaigrette. Top it off with savory Parmesan shavings and crunchy almonds, and the contrasts are divine. Each bite is crunchy, sweet, savory and citrusy: you’ll feel the winter blues melt right away.

What is endive, anyway?

Endive (or Belgian endive) is a leafy green that has a small white head and leaves with yellow green tips. The flavor is crisp with a bitter finish. Endive is often used in salads, but the cup-like shape of the leaves make them ideal for serving appetizers, like endive with smoked trout.

Ingredients in endive salad

This endive salad features the famous flavor pairing of endive and orange, which really do go hand in hand. The bitter crunch of endive against the juicy burst of citrus is truly special. Here’s what you’ll need for this salad:

• Belgian endive
• Radicchio (thinly sliced, for color; or purple endive if you can find it)
• Oranges
• Sliced almonds
• Pecorino or Parmesan cheese
• Red Wine Vinaigrette

Radicchio is another bitter green; it’s flavor is much more intensely bitter than the endive. We like it here for color, so we’ve used only a bit chopped up. If you can find purple endive you could use that instead, or even another purple vegetable like red cabbage or red onion.

For the red wine vinaigette

This endive salad pairs brilliantly with a homemade red wine vinaigrette: it’s got just the right sweet tart, zingy flavor to match the citrus and contrast the bitterness of the endive. It uses simple ingredients you’ll likely already have on hand in your pantry and fridge. Head to the Red Wine Vinaigrette recipe for specific instructions!

• Red wine vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Maple syrup or honey
• Garlic powder
• Neutral oil or olive oil

Alternative dressings

There are lots of other dressings that would work with this endive salad. Here are a few homemade salad dressings that would pair well if you want to think outside the box:

More salad recipes

This endive salad is elegant and works well in winter, when citrus and bitter greens abound. But you can make it any time of the year! Here are a few more stunning salad recipes: