Caesar Salad Spears

I adapted this recipe from the December issue of Food&Wine magazine. Although we've subscribed to the magazine for almost a year, and I've seen dozens and dozens of amazing dishes that I've wanted to try, this is actually the first recipe I've made . I pulled a "Sandra Lee" of Semi-Homemade on the Food Network, and modified this for time and convenience, as I used store bought croutons and store bought Caesar dressing. I added in about 1/4 cup of Pine Nuts, because I had them on hand. They added a great nutty crunch. I am sure that using the dressing from the recipe would have made it even more tasty, but this was a great little snack. I would definitely serve it again for company or as an appetizer at a party. It's so cute and such a unique way to serve Caesar Salad. The following is for 2 servings, so if you want to serve it to more people, or follow the original recipe from Food&Wine, click on the title of the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 Belgian Endives

1/4 cup Caesar Dressing

1/2 cup Croutons

1/4 cup Pine Nuts

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Freshly grated black pepper

Directions:

Trim the endives and remove 6 of the largest leaves to arrange on a plate. Stack the remainder of the leaves and thinly slice them. Toss the sliced leaves with Caesar Dressing and the pine nuts. Add in the cracked black pepper. Spoon the salad onto each spear and garnish with croutons and grated cheese. Serve immediately.