Endive Lettuce Cups with Homemade Parsley and Mint Hummus Recipe

Endive Lettuce Cups with Homemade Parsley and Mint Hummus Recipe

Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven. All rights reserved.

This is the party recipe that gives you more time and great flavor.  Homemade hummus is light, zingy, and full of tasty ingredients, such as parsley, mint, and lemon.  An excellent appetizer and finger food to make for a beach cottage party, Christmas social, or simply for yourself to enjoy. 

The other magic ingredients in this recipe are fresh cracked pepper and crisp endive.  Fresh cracked pepper tingles the tongue and is bold.  Look for darker in color pepper corns when shopping and pepper corns that are nicely shaped; uniform in size.  Generally, two signs of higher quality and better flavor pepper corns.  Purchase or pick endive lettuce that is crisp.  These salad greens provide slight bitter flavor in the raw form that pairs well with other ingredients, such as hummus.  

This recipe for endive lettuce cups with homemade parsley and mint hummus requires simple preparation, yet yields back a tasty time.  That flavorful result is in part because of the 

English cucumbers, feta cheese, olive oil, and salt.  English cucumbers are narrow in shape and have a mild sweet flavor.  Feta cheese adds the necessary salty and tangy element to the blended chickpeas in the hummus.  Olive oil and salt enhance the overall richness and depth of flavor.  These lettuce cups can be enjoyed as an appetizer for your next party near the beach, before your next dinner, or for Sunday brunch.  

Ingredients for Hummus

3 1/2 cups Cooked Dried Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or two 15.5 ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed

3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

1/4 cup organic lemon juice

3 Tablespoons organic lemon zest

2 cups organic flat-leaf parsley leaves, rinsed; plus more for garnish

1/2 cup organic mint leaves, rinsed 

2 Tablespoons tahini paste (sesame seed paste)

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup quality olive oil (such as California Olive Ranch Oil)

*See additional ingredients below for endive lettuce cups.

Additional Ingredients for Endive Lettuce Cups

24 yellow-green endive leaves (approximately 4 endive spears)

Feta cheese block, crumble by hand (do not purchase crumbled feta cheese)

Quality olive oil (such as California Olive Ranch Oil)

Salt

Fresh Cracked Pepper

Directions for Hummus

Cook dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans), following package directions.  Or rinse tops of chickpea (garbanzo bean) cans, open cans, drain water from cans, place beans in a colander, and then rinse beans with water.

Wash lemon.

Zest lemons (3 Tablespoons of zest).

Juice lemon (1/4 cup juice).

Peel and smash 3 garlic cloves.

Rinse off the 2 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves.

Rinse off the 1/2 cup mint leaves.

In the bowl of a food processor combine chickpeas (garbanzo beans), peeled and smashed garlic, 2 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves, 1/2 cup mint leaves, lemon juice, lemon zest, tahini, and salt. 

Pulse the ingredients into a thick paste. 

Slowly add 1/2 cup water, then 1/2 cup olive oil, in a slow stream as the food processor is still running.

Turn off food processor.

Then taste test the hummus and add more salt if needed.

Ingredients for Endive Cups

English cucumber

Quality olive oil (such as California Olive Ranch Oil)

Salt

Fresh Cracked Pepper

Check: pause to ensure you have all the ingredients above for the Endive Lettuce Cups.

Assemble Endive Cups

For the endive cups, first cut off the root end of each endive.

Then carefully separate and wash the endive leaves.

Pat dry the endive leaves with paper towel.

Use the larger endive leaves for this recipe; save the smaller leaves to eat later or with another recipe.

Spoon hummus into endive leaves on a platter.

Wash and dry off the English cucumber.  

Thinly slice the English cucumber.

Place a slice of cucumber on top of hummus in each endive lettuce cup.

Crumble the block of feta cheese.

Sprinkle feta cheese crumble on endive lettuce cups.

Lightly drizzle endive lettuce cups with olive oil.

Salt and pepper endive lettuce cups to taste.

Toss the remaining flat-leaf parsley leaves with lemon juice. 

Then garnish the platter with the flat-leaf parsley. 

Remember.  Cooking and preparing food is a powerful skill.  Some readers are at an advanced level and will prepare this dish with ease.  Some will go on to experiment with other ingredients.  While others looking at this recipe may be too intrepid to cook.  As with any skill there can be barriers and self-doubt involving fear, sensitivity, motivation, and emotions.  

If you are stuck at the point of merely looking at recipes, thinking about changes you want to make to your diet, and are unsure of your way around the kitchen, then make this recipe your one goal.  Start with this recipe, read the directions a few times, make notes, and plan out the preparation needed.  Once you conquer this recipe you will feel more inspired to make other recipes and create ones of your own.

After you discover the foods, recipes, and techniques you like, the barriers will melt away.  No need to be scared in the kitchen.  Here is where expert knowledge of cooking, restaurants, and trusted expertise comes in handy.  Many readers rely on Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven as a source for how-to and where-to regarding cookery, culture, and community.  Let an enjoyable experience with this recipe be your start.  If you are a more advanced cook, then come back and share what you made and other ideas.

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