Catalogna Chicory

Here is today's painting, an illustration of Catalogna Chicory:

When I think of chicory I think of the little purple, or some people would say blue, flowers that grow in fields and along roadsides. I think of when a couple of friends and I at twin oaks went out and gathered a bunch of roots, roasted them, ground them, and then made a coffee substitute, which was pretty yummy, but of course, missed the caffeine. I don't necessarily think of salad, or I didn't until I went searching for pictures of this vegetable. Apparently, there are two types of chicory, one grown for its roots, and one grown for its greens. And this second type has five sub-groups of its own: "radicchio (popular Italian variety), sugarloaf (a popular heading variety), large-leafed chicory, cutting or leaf chicory (Catalogna or asparagus chicory), and Belgian endive or witloof chicory (white or blanched varieties that originated in France and Belgium)," which I just learned from howstuffworks.com. Who knew chicory was such a versatile plant?