These endive boats with goat cheese and strawberries are a light and refreshing (plus easy!) appetizer. Serve chilled and topped with a simple vinaigrette, chives, and pepitas
Endive and Goat Cheese
Appetizers can be tough on any diet. Any time I walk down the aisle at Trader Joe’s I have to consciously tell myself “look away!” when I pass those frozen pigs in a blanket. The Heal Your Headache migraine diet is particularly hard when you were once used to a spread that was full of aged cheese. However with a little creativity, you can have a beautiful spread without the migraine triggers.
One of my favorite celebrity chefs is José Andrés. If you’ve seen the documentary “El Bulli” about Ferran Adrià, you know it was one of the most sought after restaurants in the whole. José studied under Ferran at El Bulli, producing famous dishes like “liquid olives”. Any time we take a trip to Vegas, which turns into a culinary trip more than anything, we try to eat at one of his restaurants. My favorite so far is Jaleo, although I have yet to try é, which I hear is also amazing.
There’s a dish at Jaleo called “Endibias con queso de cabra y naranjas”…it’s basically endives, goat cheese, oranges, and almonds. It is refreshing, light, delicious, and half full of triggers. Wah wah.
Ingredients for Endive Boat Appetizers
In the past I would copycat that recipe when company came over, but being on the HYH diet now I was contemplating ways to reinvent it. Since it’s strawberry season, I thought that might do the trick. The end result is still rich, tangy, and light. In all honesty, I first wanted to use pomegranate seeds but I couldn’t find them.
If you have a histamine intolerance, which strawberries can be higher in, you could easily replace the strawberries with pomegranate seeds.
Endive can usually be found in the vegetable section around lettuce. They also sell it pre-packaged at Trader Joe’s. All you have to do is trim the ends and carefully peel off each layer until it makes a “boat”.
What to Serve with a Strawberry Appetizer
If you’re looking to make a spread along with the endive boats with goat cheese, I find that Boursin is your best bet. Boursin is basically a fresh cheese (cream cheese) mixed with herbs. The garlic and herb flavor is Heal Your Headache friendly, but you can also make your own at home by combining cream cheese with chives, garlic, and parsley. I like to set this up with some Trader Joe’s water crackers and call it a day.
PS – I spent this whole post fighting my autocorrect that wanted to keep changing Jaleo to paleo. This is my life.
Inspired by Jaleo by José Andrés that uses oranges and almonds, this recipe combines strawberries with a light vinaigrette and pepitas for a nut-free, gluten free vegetarian appetizer!
- 1 cup strawberries, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons good extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Belgian endive
- 1/4 cup toasted pepitas/pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- 2-3 oz fresh goat cheese (chevre)
Trim ends of endive and pull leaves apart carefully. Set aside. In a bowl, mix together chopped strawberries, white vinegar, and olive oil. Spoon strawberries into endive cups.
Add crumbled, fresh goat cheese and top with chopped chives and pepitas. Cover and chill or serve immediately.
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