Endives for Rabbits

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Endives in practice for rabbits 

Endives, with their little bitterness, are generally very popular with rabbits.

It is a vegetable that can be given daily, easily finding its place in the plate of our lagomorph friends. Don’t hesitate to offer the whole leaves so that your little friend will enjoy chewing them.

With a phospho-calcium ratio of 0.87, its calcium content is moderate, so this vegetable should be offered a little less often to rabbits on a low calcium diet. However, there is no need to eliminate it completely if your long-eared friend likes it!

Read the detailed composition of endive for rabbits here

Origin of endives

The endive is a relatively new vegetable, “discovered” in Belgium during the 19th century by a farmer trying to hide crops during the revolution.

It is initially a wild chicory, bitter, and inedible for humans but sometimes used as fodder for animals.

The farmer realized that when placed in the shade and warmth, this plant whitened and softened, giving birth to the endive we know today.

Following this happy discovery, the underground of the botanical gardens of Brussels became the first places of culture of this new variety of lettuce, which could be found on Belgian stalls from 1879, before it eventually spread in all Northern Europe.

Today, the cultivation is done in 2 steps: chicory with big roots are first put in the ground, in the open air, then transplanted in humid cellars to finish their development.

In France, this vegetable is known as endive, but our northern and Belgian friends prefer the name chicon. In Flemish, it is called witloof (from wit, white, and loof, foliage), while English speakers, on the other hand, have preferred to keep the original name chicory in the UK while endive is used in the US.

Preserving endives

To fully enjoy its flavors without leaving room for too much bitterness, it is essential to protect your endives from light.

So, once purchased, place them in the crisper of your refrigerator, either in their bag if it is opaque, or by wrapping them in paper towels.

Protected like this, they will keep for up to 6 days.

Don’t try to freeze them to keep them longer, raw, they can’t take it.

Recipe with endives for humans 

Probably the easiest way to eat them is in a salad. If you don’t like their bitterness, feel free to strip your endives of their young leaves, cutting a small cone from their base.

Then cut your endives into small pieces and add other ingredients as desired: apples, Roquefort cheese (or a veggie specialty with parsley), vinaigrette…

Do you prefer them cooked? Why don’t you try the following recipe? :

Pie with candied endives and fresh goat cheese

Ingredients for 2 people: a shortcrust pastry (homemade, or store-bought), 6 endives, 200g of fresh goat cheese (or a vegetable equivalent specialty), 2 tablespoons honey and some hazelnuts.

Preheat your oven to 190°C.

Cut the endives into small pieces, and fry them over medium heat in a little fat for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bake your pastry blind* for 8 minutes (*place your shortcrust pastry in a pie pan, prick it several times with a fork, then add a piece of parchment paper and dry food (dried beans, rice…) on top to act as a weight. Bake for the time indicated.)

Add the 2 tablespoons of honey on the endives, then let it comfit on low heat until a nice golden color appears.

Turn off the heat, add the cream cheese, mix, then spread the mixture over the pastry.

Sprinkle with hazelnut slivers and bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm and increase your pleasure by watching your little bunny crunch on some of the beautiful raw leaves you’ve taken care to reserve for him 🙂

Endives Seasonality

This is a winter vegetable, if not THE winter vegetable par excellence. You’ll find them from the first frosty days until the warm weather, with the peak season running from October to February/March.

 

 

Translated from French by Margaux