Easy, Yet Impressive Shrimp Endive Appetizer

My friend Kevin made a version of this 'shrimp salad on endive leaves' appetizer last week when a group of us were out on a boat.

It was a great snack for a boat as there were no forks or knives involved and no messy dips. Plus the endive leaf makes its own little "container" for the shrimp filling. I would have thought you'd need to serve these immediately, but they kept pretty well for a few hours. Good to know.

The taste reminds me a bit of Thai food. It is fresh and tangy with a bit of zip, but doesn't overwhelm the shrimp or endive.

Shrimp on Endive Leaves Appetizer

2  cups cooked shrimp, tails removed, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped fine

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped fine

less than 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

2 1/2 T mayonnaise

dash curry

1 T fresh lime juice

2 or 3 dashes of your favorite hot sauce

2 T finely chopped salted peanuts

4 heads of endive

Combine the shrimp, pepper, cilantro, onion, mayo, curry, lime juice and hot sauce in a large bowl and toss gently.  Taste and adjust the seasoning if it needs more zip (hot sauce) or lime juice. Stir in the peanuts.

Take the endive heads and cut off the base. Remove a few of the bruised outer leaves and discard.  Separate all the leaves and use the medium to small ones.  You can save the large and real tiny leaves for a salad.

Place a teaspoon of the mixture in each of the endive leaves. Arrange in a sunburst design on a large round platter and serve.

Makes about 25 individual appetizers.

You can easily serve this on top of toasted slices of french bread.