Quick and Easy Chicory Canapés

Ingredients

These are so easy to make with ingredients that keep well in the fridge so that you can be prepared to make these vegan and gluten-free chicory canapés whenever you need them at a moment’s notice!

• Chicory leaves – also known as endive or radicchio.  Choose green or red/purple.  The red version looks really festive and works well for Christmas party food.

• Hummus or babaganoush – either shop-bought or homemade is fine.

• Pomegranate seeds – these keep well in the fridge and they look so pretty, so it’s always worth keeping some in the fridge over the holiday period for beautifying festive food!

• Toasted almond flakes – these add a lovely crunch.  Almond flakes can be toasted really easily for a couple of minutes in a dry frying pan.

• Fresh herbs – oregano and parsley works really well but you can choose whichever herbs you like best!

Basic Instructions

• Separate out the chicory leaves and artfully place on a plate, 
• fill with a dollop of dip (either hummus or babahanoush works well), 
• toast the almond flakes in a dry frying pan for a minute or two, then sprinkle on top of the chicory leaves and add a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds and chopped herbs.  

Chef’s Tips

• To separate out the chicory leaves, just chop off the base and gently tease out the outer leaves then each time it becomes difficult to pull off, chop the end off again to keep pulling off the outer leaves.  

• To easily get pomegranate seeds out of the pomegranate, just cut it into quarters and then break each quarter in half with your hands and gently push your thumbs against the creamy pithy bits to knock the seeds out of their positions.  

Serving suggestions

Serve as part of a canapé spread or on their own as pre-dinner nibbles.  (see here for other canapé and finger food ideas)

Substitutions

I really love hummus or babaganoush for these chicory canapés as they are naturally vegan and quite well known by vegans and non-vegans alike so they don’t seem like something strange and unknown to any non-vegans guests.  That said, if you want to experiment with other ideas, you could easily use vegan cream cheese instead.  

Likewise, you could add chopped smoked almonds or pistachios instead of the toasted flaked almonds and you could swap little gem lettuce leaves for the chicory leaves if you prefer. 

Making ahead

Since chicory leaves are quite sturdy, they won’t go soggy if you make these ahead, so you could easily make them up to an hour in advance and keep them covered in the fridge.  If you want to make them further in advance, you could:

• separate out the chicory leaves ready and keep them covered in the fridge for up to 2 days;
• toast the almond flakes, cool them and keep them in a sealed container for 3 or 4 days;
• get the pomegranate seeds out of the pomegranate and keep in a sealed container in the fridge for 3 or 4 days;
• chop the herb leaves and keep wrapped in a piece of kitchen towel for up to 4 hours;

Then just assemble it all on the plate in the hour before you want to serve them.