Light, refreshing Endive Orange Salad with a delicious tahini dressing, sunflower seeds, and fresh mint. It’s the perfect vegetarian citrus salad to transition from winter to spring!
Are you guys familiar with Belgian endive?! If not, it’s a cylinder-shaped veggie with pale yellow leaves that has a slightly bitter taste and crunchy texture.
My first experience with endive was at my bachelorette party. That was a weird sentence to write. I bet you don’t know too many other people who experimented with unique veggies at their bach party, huh? 😉
Let me set the scene a little. My sister threw me an amazing party in Philly a month before our wedding. Part of the festivities included a cooking competition (similar to Chopped!) at the Reading Terminal Market. Each team received a box of random ingredients and was tasked with coming up with a palatable dish.
My team got Belgian endive in our box. We also got goat cheese and dried cranberries. So, we made an appetizer of endive leaves stuffed with whipped honey goat cheese and dried cranberries. Yum, right?
Ever since that night, I’ve been itching to come up with an endive recipe for the blog! So when I saw this pretty veg at the co-op a couple weeks ago, I knew it was time to make that a reality. I picked up a couple heads and got to work.
How to Make Endive Orange Salad
The first step in making this recipe is getting and storing the endive correctly. Did you know that endive likes the dark?! I didn’t until I saw a sign that said so at the co-op. After you purchase a head of endive, be sure to wrap it in a towel and store in your fridge so that you can preserve its freshness.
The other ingredients in this salad are pretty simple:
- Oranges
- Sunflower seeds
- Fresh mint
- And a homemade tahini dressing with tahini, orange juice, honey, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil
Sweet oranges are an ideal complement to slightly bitter endives and tahini. Sunflower seeds add a great crunch, and fresh mint rounds out the whole dish!
Needless to say, making this salad is pretty easy too. To prep the endives, peel off the leaves, starting from the outside and continuing until you get to the center stalk. I like to keep the leaves whole and then serve the salad with both a fork and a knife, so that people can slice the endive leaves on their plate if they want to.
What to Serve with Endive Salad
This light and refreshing citrus salad would pair well on the side of baked fish or pork chops. It would be a great dish for a dinner party or date night!
If you like it, you might also want to check out my Chopped Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing!
Endive Orange Salad with Tahini Dressing
A light and refreshing endive citrus salad with homemade tahini dressing. Vegetarian and paleo.
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 heads Belgian endive the one with pale yellow leaves
- 1 orange peeled and sliced into thin circles
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
For the dressing:
- 1 orange juiced, ~1/4 cup
- 1 tbsp orange zest
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
Instructions
Prepare the Belgian endive by peeling the leaves, starting from the outside and continuing until you reach the center stalk. Peel an orange and use a knife to slice it into thin circles. Prepare two serving bowls with equal amounts of endive leaves and orange slices. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sunflower seeds and 1 tbsp chopped mint on each salad.
To prepare the dressing, whisk the orange juice, orange zest, tahini, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and honey in a small bowl. Drizzle it over the salads, and enjoy!
Want to make this salad? Pin now to make it later!
Happy Tuesday!
Lizzie
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