Endive Boats with Avocado, Pomegranate, & Crab Salad—Gluten-Free Appetizer for Share Our Holiday Table

Today is the first day of a 7-course virtual progressive dinner party called Share Our Holiday Table.  This is a fund-raising event to support Share Our Strength’s ‘No Kid Hungry Campaign’ to raise awareness of child hunger in the U.S.  50 fellow bloggers will be sharing wonderful holiday recipes and ideas for each course over the coming days in four different categories: gourmet, family friendly, vegetarian, and gluten-free.  With the combined message of 50 bloggers and your help, we can spread awareness far and wide!  Today we start with appetizers.

Share Our Holiday Table 2010

I made a gluten-free appetizer for the dinner party.  I decided to try it out on my guests at my POM party last month.  I made a simple avocado, pomegranate, and crab salad that I served in crisp endive leaves.  I topped the salad with a creamy tangy pomegranate sauce and a bit of lemon zest.  This appetizer was probably the most popular dish of the night.  It was beautiful and packed full of flavor.  It was a big hit on my end as well because it was quick and easy to make, taking some of the pressure off of me as I was worrying about so many other dishes.

Appetizer Course -- Endive Boats

I made the sauce the day before.  The sauce takes about 10 minutes to make.  You combine the ingredients in a double boiler and stir them constantly until the sauce thickens into a thin-mayonnaise consistency.  Then you force the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to catch any possible lumps, and let it cool.

Pomegranate Sauce

Before the party, all I had to do was chop up the avocados and mix them with crab meat and pomegranate arils, then fill endive leaves with the mixture, and spoon a bit of the prepared sauce over the salad and finish them off with a bit of lemon zest.

Crab Avocado Pomegranate SaladFilling the endive boats

The sweet crab meat tastes delicious with the creamy avocado and tangy sweet burst of flavor from the pomegranate arils.  The sauce adds a bit of creamy tang and the lemon zest finishes everything off with a bit of citrusy sunshine.  The endive leaves provide a perfect way to get the salad from your plate to mouth, adding a pleasant, slightly bitter crunch.

Endive Boats

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Endive Boats with Avocado, Pomegranate, & Crab Salad

Makes approximately 30 boats

Recipe Note: For those who want to make sure this appetizer is gluten-free, make sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce or tamari.  You could also substitute Bragg Fluid Aminos if you can’t find a gluten-free soy sauce.

For the Pomegranate Sauce:
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup dashi (or vegetable stock)
4 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons pomegranate juice concentrate
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon soy sauce

2 medium, ripe avocados cut into 1/4-inch cubes
6 ounces cooked crab meat
3/4 cup pomegranate arils
2 large heads Belgian endive
Finely grated lemon zest, to garnish

1. Make the Pomegranate Sauce: Combine the pomegranate sauce ingredients in a double boiler, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens and becomes the consistency of thin mayonnaise.  Force the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve and let it cool.  Refrigerate sauce until ready to use.

2. Make the boats: Pick through the crab to remove any cartilage or shell that may be present.  Combine the crab meat, avocado, and pomegranate arils in a bowl and mix gently.  Separate the endive leaves.  Spoon a small amount of the salad into each endive leaf.  Drizzle the pomegranate sauce over the salad, garnish with lemon zest, and serve.

Appetizers from other dinner party bloggers:

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