Apple & Endive Salad with Dates, Pomegranate, Sumac, & Honey Walnut Labneh

APPLE & ENDIVE SALAD WITH DATES, POMEGRANATE, SUMAC AND HONEY WALNUT LABNEH

recipe inspired by Ana Sortun's book, Spice:Flavors of the Eastern Mediteranean

Serves 4

{Recipe for Homemade Labneh ~ A Yogurt Cheese}~ infused with Honey & Orange Blossom Water and Walnuts:

• 17.5 ounce fage all natural greek yogurt, strained overnight (you can also use any plain full fat yogurt}
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water {you may use 1/2 tsp vanilla instead of orange blossom water}
• 2 tablespoons toasted walnuts, finely chopped

1. You will need to strain & refrigerate the Greek yogurt overnight in a cheese cloth rolled up in a ball with a knot and hang it up or place it in a strainer with a bowl underneath. Before placing the yogurt in the fridge try to squeeze as much of the water out as you can.{Please Note} You can certainly skip this step and buy Labneh ready made from a specialty shop! I have seen Labneh at Middle Eastern grocers.
2. Next day before serving the salad, In a bowl add Labneh, honey, orange blossom water & finely chopped walnuts and mix well until all of the ingredients are infused well. Refrigerate again until you are ready to assemble the salad.
3. {PLEASE NOTE} You can spread this delicious Labneh on a Bagel {makes a healthy & tasty substitute to cream cheese}, also tasty on crusty bread or crackers! Makes a healthy snack!
4. Most of the ingredients can be found in a supermarket. Turkish, Middle Eastern or Greek Markets. Also Williams Sonoma carries Sumac.

Apple and Endive Salad with Dates, Pomegranates, & Walnuts sprinkled w/ Sumac:

• 3 honey crisp variety of apples, cored, unpeeled, julienned (or any sweet apple of your choice}
• 4 medjool dates, pitted & sliced
• 4 tablespoons Pomegranate seeds
• 2 tablespoons toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice,reserve some extra if needed
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 or less teaspoon sumac, only for sprinkling on top
• 4-5 smaller size endives, chopped & some leaves for presentation

1. In a bowl add julienned apples and coat them with lemon juice to prevent the apples from oxidizing.
2. Add the 3 chopped endives, dates, pomegranate seeds, chopped mint, chopped walnuts. Mix the honey, 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice & olive oil in a separate small bowl, whisk well and then add to the salad. Toss the salad well. {at this point you can add some more lemon juice if you feel the salad needs more citrus flavor}
3. Plate the salad with 2 tablespoons of Labneh spread into a round disk like shape.
4. Enjoy!