Belgian Endive salad with cranberry sauce, fresh dill, red cabbage, raisins and stewed apple with red wine vinegar

“Belgian endive is an excellent source for Vitamin A which is an essential vitamin to help with good eye health and vision and may protect the eyes from getting cataracts.  It is also a good source of folate, which is beneficial to pregnant women to help protect against birth defects.  Belgian endive is also high in Vitamin C, which is an important vitamin in boosting the immune system and help fight off infections.  It is also a good source of calcium to help build strong teeth and bones.  Belgian endive is an excellent food to eat to help protect against heart related diseases as it is low in cholesterol and saturated fat.  It is also an excellent food to eat for dietary fiber which helps to maintain a healthy digestive system.

Belgian endive is a good source of Vitamin E and in a Harvard Medical School publication states that Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps to stabilize damaged molecules and is said that diets containing good sources of Vitamin E may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease as well as prostate cancer.

This is an excellent food to help lower and maintain the correct level of bad cholesterol which is beneficial for a healthy cardiovascular system. It is a very good source for folate which is beneficial in helping to protect against birth defects.  Belgian endive also contains a good amount of Vitamin C which is essential in having a strong and healthy immune system.  Because it is a good source of calcium, adding this food to your diet can help strengthen your bones and teeth.  Belgian endive is an excellent source for getting dietary fiber which is essential to keep a healthy digestive system and protect against constipation.  Belgian endive has been used medicinally to help dissolve kidney stones, has been used as a laxative, and is a natural diuretic.  ” – SteadyHealth

Same thing goes for the red cabbage, it is packed with great health benefits so even if we only use 1/4th, you can easily keep the remaining part and use it in other salads! “One of the main reasons why red cabbage is such a popular vegetable addition to meals is the wealth of phytochemicals, antioxidants, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. One of the most important functions of red cabbage is its role in cancer prevention. The high levels of antioxidant components in red cabbage make it extremely important as a preventative measure.

Since red cabbage is very low in calories, but high in dietary fiber and has a wealth of important vitamins and minerals. Basically, this means that it leaves you feeling full and takes care of your nutritional needs, without encouraging you to eat more food or overeat from empty calories. “- Organic Facts

There are many more health benefits that you get from eating red cabbage like keeping you look young, being good for your eyes, reducing the pain and inflammation from ulcers, boosting your immune system and so on!

Serves: 2 people

Ingredients

• 150g cranberries
• 2 dl water
• 3 tablespoon of sugar (+ some extra)
• 0,5dl red wine vinegar
• 1 red apple
• 1/4 small red cabbage
• 1 endive
• 1 sprig of fresh dill
• handful of raisins
• olive oil

Preparation

Strip off the outer leaves of the red cabbage, wash, then slice into quarters, cut out the hard central core, then chop in small chunks. For the endive you remove the outer leaves, slice them in half and remove the hard bottom and core, as these are the most bitter parts of the the endive. Slice the endive up in strips and set aside.

For our cranberry sauce, simply add cranberries, water and sugar to a sauce pot and let it simmer for 10 minutes so the cranberries will soften and pop. Using a stand mixer, mix it all together and add water if you think the sauce is too thick. Put it back on the heat and continue for another 10 minutes.

For the apples you only need to remove the stem and core, no need to peel them but make sure you wash your apple first. Slice it up in thin slices (about 0,5cm) and put them in the red wine vinegar while you slice up the entire apple. Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan and put it on medium heat. Add the apple slices along with the red wine vinegar and sprinkle just a bit of sugar on top (about 1/2 tablespoon should do). Let the apples soften in the pan and make sure to turn them over every once in a while.

Once everything is done you can layer it up by putting the apple slices at the bottom, the endive and red cabbage on top and then sprinkle some dill (just one per plate should do as this has a very outspoken flavour), add a generous amount of raisins and drizzle the cranberry sauce around the plate and onto the salad to give some sweet balance to our the bitter/sour salad.