Shack Life Quarterly

I found this recipe in a delicious magazine (July 2007) that my friend Anika gave me when she moved away. I was reading the magazine in bed one night and oohhing and ahhing over lots of great looking recipes, but so far have only made this one. I even made it twice in one week.. partly because the first time I only made half a batch and had chicory leftover, but mostly because it was good!

The chicory used in the recipe is not the kind that has blue flowers and grows along roadsides that I remember from my childhood, but what I more commonly know as endive, or Belgian endive. According to Wikipedia, “Endive (Cichorium endivia) is a variation of the winter leaf vegetable chicory which can be cooked or used in salads, created by growing chicory (or certain similar breeds) until its foliage sprouts, then cutting off the leaves and placing the still-living stem and root in a dark place. They grow a second bud, but without the sunlight it is white and lacks the bitterness of the normal chicory bud.”

Although I found this recipe in a magazine, it is actually Angela Hartnett’s recipe from her new cookbook, Angela Hartnett’s Cucina: Three Generations of Italian Family Cooking.

Notes: I couldn’t find golden raisins in the shops, so I used sultanas instead. I also substituted curly parsley because that’s what I had on hand.

Chicory, Golden Raisin and Green Bean Salad

Adding nuts and dried fruit to salads makes them more interesting and, here, the sweetness of the raisins offsets the bitter chicory. Dress the beans while they’re warm so they take on the flavours of the dressing.

150g golden raisins
300g green beans
4 small chicory heads
Handful fresh flatleaf parsley leaves
120ml red wine vinagrette (see below)
1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1. Soak the raisins in warm water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Add the beans and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and plunge immediately into iced water. Drain and set aside.

3. Halve the chicory lengthways and separate the leaves. Toss in a bowl with the raisins, beans and parsley.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the vinagrette with the mustard. Add just enough to the salad to coat. Season and serve immediately as it won’t keep in the fridge.

Per Serving: 295 kcals, 19.3g fat(2.8g saturated), 2.8g protein, 30g carbs, 26.9g sugar, 0.2g salt.

Red Wine Vinagrette

1. Put 20ml red wine vinegar in a bowl, season well with Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix until the sea salt has completely dissolved. Add 100ml extra-virgin olive oil and whisk together.