Chicory is grown in the dark, which prevents the leaves from developing green. Chicory has an elongated, closed, white head. The edges of its leaves are light yellow and it tastes slightly bitter. It’s a versatile vegetable that is easy to prepare, whether boiled, stir-fried in a wok or raw in a delicious salad. Dutch-grown chicory is available all year round.
Caramelized chicory with honey and thyme
Ingredients
- 4 chicory stalks
- 2 tsps honey
- 2 tsps dried (or fresh) thyme
- a little salt and (ground) pepper
- a dash of oil
Preparation
Preparation
1. Cut the chicory into pieces roughly 2 cm thick.
Cooking
2. Heat the oil a little in a pan.
3. Braise the chicory in the oil until it becomes slightly soft. Mix in some salt and pepper.
4. Finally, mix in the honey and thyme.
Stir-fried chicory with bacon and mushrooms
Ingredients
- 6 chicory stalks
- 200 g bacon
- 150 g mushrooms
- 2 tbsps (sunflower or olive) oil
- 2 tbsps ketjap (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
Preparation
Preparation
1. Remove any unsightly chicory leaves and cut the bottom part off.
2. Wash the head and drain it thoroughly. Halve the heads lengthways and, depending on width, cut them lengthways another two or three times.
3. Chop the bacon into strips.
4. Rub the mushrooms clean with kitchen roll. Halve them or chop them into four pieces.
Cooking
5. Heat a wok or high-edged frying pan. Pour the oil into the pan and get it nice and hot. Stir-fry the strips of bacon for 1 minute.
6. Add the chicory and the mushrooms and stir-fry these for 2-3 minutes until the vegetable feels slightly soft. Add a dash of ketjap to taste.
Stir-fried chicory with honey and balsamic vinegar
Ingredients
- 2 chicory stalks
- 1 tbsp (mixed) honey
- 1 dash of balsamic vinegar
- pepper
- salt
Preparation
Preparation
1. Halve the chicory lengthways and then cut the chicory heart away slightly. Chop the chicory into nice strips lengthways. But not too thin - keep the strips slightly rough.
Cooking
2. Briefly stir-fry the chicory in a little oil in the pan.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add a spoonful of (mixed) honey and a dash of balsamic vinegar.
Steamed chicory
Ingredients
- 12 chicory stalks
- 300 g butter or 2 tbsps olive oil
- 4 tbsps white wine
- 2 lemons
- 8 sprigs of thyme
- a pinch of salt
- pepper
Preparation
Preparation
1. Remove any green chicory leaves and cut the bottom part off.
2. Halve the heads lengthways.
Cooking
3. Steam them in one of the ways indicated in the general tip until they’re almost soft (8-10 minutes, depending on the size of the stalks).
4. Drain the chicory thoroughly.
5. Heat the butter or oil in a large frying pan over a medium source of heat.
6. Place the halved heads in the pan, turn them thoroughly in the butter or oil and lay them flat side down in the pan.
7. Sprinkle them with the juice from the lemons and white wine. Finally, strip some thyme from the sprigs and sprinkle some salt over the chicory.
To serve
8. Before serving, sprinkle the chicory with pepper to taste. Garnish it with a sprig of thyme and a piece of lemon.
Vegan stamppot (‘mash pot’) with chicory and apple
Ingredients
- 500 g chicory
- 750 g crumbly potatoes
- 1 herb stock cube
- 1 onion
- 1 red apple
- 50 g raisins
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 tsps curry powder
- 50 ml milk
- 150 g mild Gouda cheese
- salt and pepper
- chives
Preparation
Preparation
1. Peel and wash the potatoes and cut them into pieces.
2. Peel the onion and chop finely.
3. Clean the chicory and cut the heads into ringlets.
4. Wash the apple, core it and cut it into strips.
Cooking
5. Boil the potatoes in a little water with the stock cube until done.
6. Heat the oil and fry the onion in it with the curry powder until golden yellow.
7. Add the chicory (set 2 tbsps of chicory rings aside to garnish) and the apple strips (set some strips with red skin aside). Fry this for 5 minutes.
8. Drain the potatoes, mash them until smooth and add the hot milk.
9. Stir thoroughly and spoon the onion-chicory-apple mix with raisins through the light potato puree.
10. Chop the cheese into little blocks and mix these into the stamppot.
11. Add salt, pepper and finely chopped chives to taste.
To serve
12. Garnish with the chicory ringlets and apple strips you set aside and some chives.
Orange melon salad
Ingredients
- 3 chicory stalks
- 150 g Serrano ham
- a smidgen of chives
- 2 tbsps balsamic vinegar
- 4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsps sunflower oil
- 1 cantaloupe melon
- 30 g sunflower seeds
- pepper
- salt
Preparation
Preparation
1. Separate the slices of ham, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the ham on both sides until crispy. Drain it on kitchen roll.
Cooking
2. Next, toast the sunflower seeds in the same frying pan.
3. Clean the melon, remove the seeds and dice the melon.
4. Remove the chicory’s outer leaves, cut the hard heart out of the chicory and chop the chicory finely. Place the chicory in a dish along with the melon and finely chopped chives.
5. Make a dressing out of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and mix this through the salad.
To serve
6. Serve with the crispy fried ham and the toasted sunflower seeds.
