Endive Salad

When visiting Michigan recently, I had the good fortune to eat at the home of a self made chef. The whole meal was spectacular, but the endive salad and dessert stole the show for me. Here's my rendition of the endive salad. You'll see the dessert soon ... when I get it figured out!

Ingredients:

4 heads endive
8 pepperdaw peppers, red or yellow, sliced
4 tsp toasted pine nuts
4 tsp crumbled blue cheese
2 tsp chopped cilantro
4 tsp honey lemon salad dressing
4 sprigs of cilantro

Directions:

Have 4 salad plates ready. Halve each head of endive lengthwise, then separate the leaves. Place one head of endive on each salad plate. Top each endive plate with 1/4 of the sliced peppers, along with 1/4 of the pine nuts, blue cheese, cilantro. Top each with 1 teaspoon of salad dressing. Garnish each plate with a sprig of cilantro.

Serves 4

Stealthy Cooking Tip: This can easily be made ahead of time. Use a small salad plate for each salad, and prepare everything except the salad dressing. Refrigerate, then add the salad dressing just before serving. Add a piece of fish (I added some trout) for a light lunch or dinner.