Autumn vegetables Healthy endives are stable in the fridge for a few days

Tasty and healthy: autumn is endive time
Although endives are commercially available throughout the year, the focus of supply is still autumn. The tasty leaves are low in calories and rich in nutrients. They do not taste as bitter today as they used to. The vegetables are kept in the fridge for several days.

Salad consists mostly of water
Although salad is 90-95 percent water, most varieties are still delicious and healthy. One variety is endive: although it can be purchased throughout the year, it is best known as a classic autumn vegetable. Colloquially, endives are always assigned to the salad, but they are not related to the classic salads. This is indicated by the provincial association Rheinischer Obst- und Gemüsebauer (Bonn). They belong to the plants of the chicory group and are closely related to chicory and radicchio.

Autumn is endive time. The tasty leaves are low in calories and rich in healthy nutrients. The vegetables are no longer as bitter today as they used to be. (Image: pilipphoto / fotolia.com)

Low in calories and rich in valuable nutrients
Endives contain just ten kilocalories per 100 grams and are therefore very low in calories. However, they are rich in healthy phytochemicals, including many flavonoids that are designed to fight free radicals in the body.

In addition, endive scores in comparison to other salads with their content of vitamin C, some vitamins of the B group, as well as potassium, calcium and phosphorus.

Previously, the leaves had a slightly bitter taste, but breeding work has succeeded in largely removing the bitter substances.

Endive can be stored for days in the refrigerator
Endives are usually cut into strips for consumption. Often the heads are too big for a small household to consume them in a meal.

According to the provincial association, it is easily possible to disassemble the head from the trunk into small parts. The remainder can be stored in a foil bag for several days in the refrigerator.

Whom endives should be too bitter, the leaves over a certain time in warm water, which should remove the bitter substances. However, this is only at the expense of the ingredients that stimulate our appetite and digestion.

Also, some sugar in the dressing covers the bitter substances.

Endive not only in the salad
Since endives are very crisp and can be stored for several days, they are often part of salad mixes.

But there are many more ways to make tasty dishes from the delicious leaves. For example, endive can be prepared like spinach and then goes well with meat, fish or seafood.

The vegetables also taste in a soup, in a stew or risotto. Recipes for dishes with endive, such as a delicious endive soup, can be found on the Internet. (Ad)