DANDELION SALAD

Sunshine, blue skies, springtime flowers pointing their faces to the sun.

Growing up surrounded by love, we witnessed many rituals.

One of my favorites is Spring Dandelion 'hunting'. We would go

out into my parents' garden and look for the bright green plants

poking their heads out of the soil. Big smiles on our faces

because we knew we would have Dandelion Salad for lunch.

Grandmother would always tell us how good it was for us, after a long

winter our bodies 'were asleep' and we needed to wake them up with

a good detox. Dandelions are high in Calcium, rich in Iron, loaded with

Antioxidants, contain many Minerals and besides vitamin A as beta-carotene (186% RDA) and vitamin C (21% RDA), each cup of chopped dandelion greens are also good sources of vitamins B1 (9% RDA), B2 (11% RDA) and B6 (11% RDA),

 vitamin E (13% RDA) and especially abundant in vitamin K (357% RDA).

Well Grandmother (Baba) said this in her own language but we understood - it was good for us-

luckily for Baba and our parents we loved Dandelion Greens.

Last year I let the few Dandelion plants go to seed and went around my garden and 'seeded'

more so we could have a good 'crop' for salads in the spring.

(To my neighbors horror I'm sure as they most likely are trying to get rid of any sign of dandelions!)

Little do they know it's like gold in this yard........

So for the past few weeks I have been out in the back yard, checking on 'my greens'

today was the day to dig up the dandelions. They are best before the bloom but can still

be eaten - flowers and all. Cut them at the root and if you like save the root and make

Dandelion Tea. Put the green into a sink full of water to rinse any soil that come along.

If you cut them the right way they will be fairly clean and will require very little washing.

I usually give them at least 5 washing in lots of cold water, pulling out any grass etc that may be

intertwined among the leaves. Drain well and proceed with the making of this salad.

Dandelion Salad

So good for you Comfort Food.

 

The ingredients you will need.

The dandelion greens chopped along with the green onion

and the hard boiled egg and canned tomatoes waiting

to be incorporated into this salad.

Greens, chopped, eggs chopped.

Tomatoes are added, along with some oil, salt and pepper.





 

We like to eat this salad with some homemade bread

to dip into the 'dressing'.

DANDELION SALAD RECIPE

1 bunch of dandelion greens (approx. 10-12 medium sized plants)

1-2 green onions, sliced

1-2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 cup canned tomatoes (more if you prefer)

2 Tbsp sunflower oil ( use what oil you prefer)

Toss everything together and enjoy!

Wash dandelion green very well to remove any soil, sand or grasses.

Drain well and chop.

Slice green onions, chop the eggs.

In large bowl combine the dandelion greens, green onions, chopped eggs.

Add the canned tomatoes and oil.

Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy with a slice of bread. salt and pepper to taste.

 

Note: With any leftover dandelion greens, we used to take the whole dandelion,

twist and dip this into a mixture of oil and a bit of salt.

Usually eaten this way when we had fresh soup for supper.

Another delicious, nutritious way to eat Dandelions.

 

". . . .that we live our deepest Soul's desire not by intending

to change who we are but by intending to be who we are."

- Oriah Mountain Dreamer