Certain foods taste better when you eat them with your hands, like barbecued ribs and corn on the cob. This salad is the perfect way to indulge that primal urge. Use the endive leaves as scoops to gather up some olive shards, a fava bean or two, and a slice of lemon. The crisp spears explode with flavor, and before you’ve finished the first your hand will be reaching for another. Hand out forks if you must, and make sure to tell your friends that the Meyer lemon slices are for eating. They’re sweet and delicious, peel and all. Slice the olives thinly, so their intense taste doesn’t overwhelm the other ingredients. As for the dressing, gently stir (don’t whisk) in the cream to incorporate it without whipping it.

　　

Ingredients

1 Meyer lemon

　　5 Belgian endives, cores removed, separated into spears

　　Meyer lemon cream (recipe follows)

　　3/4 cup shucked fava beans

　　1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots

　　1/3 cup oil-cured black olives, pitted and thinly sliced lengthwise

　　2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves

　　1 tablespoon 1/2-inch-snipped chives

　　Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　

Meyer Lemon Cream

2 tablespoons finely diced shallot

　　1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice

　　1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

　　1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream

　　Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　

Step 1

Place the lemon on its side on a cutting board. Holding it with one hand, cut off the pithy end and slice the lemon into paper-thin pinwheels. Pick out the seeds.

　　

Step 2

Place the endive spears in a large bowl and pour the Meyer lemon cream over them. Add the fava beans, lemon slices, and sliced shallots. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to coat the endive with the dressing. Taste for seasoning, and arrange on a large chilled platter. Scatter the olives and herbs over the salad.

　　

Meyer Lemon Cream

Step 3

Place the shallot, lemon juice, and a 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk in the olive oil. Gently stir in the cream, add a few grinds of pepper, and taste for balance and seasoning.

　　Sunday Suppers at Lucques[by Suzanne Goin with Teri Gelber. Copyright © 2005 by Suzanne Goin. Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved..Suzanne Goin graduated from Brown University. She was named Best Creative Chef by Boston magazine in 1994, one of the Best New Chefs by Food & Wine in 1999, and was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She and her business partner, Caroline Styne, also run the restaurant A.O.C. in Los Angeles, where Goin lives with her husband, David Lentz.Teri Gelber is a food writer and public-radio producer living in Los Angeles.](http://astore.amazon.com/epistore-20/detail/1400042151)