Ok, I can’t stop myself—I must boast about yet another rousing success with these delicious fall dandelions I keep finding up on the mountainside. Whereas I served the last batch finely chopped in a yummy marinated salad, I served these latest dandelion greens chopped coarsely and fresh-tossed with baby spinach, red cabbage, red clovers, and a delicious soy-based homemade dressing. Gregg was very impressed.
Without further ado, then, here is the recipe:
Salad Ingredients:
- Baby spinach greens
- Dandelion greens and leaf stems, coarsely chopped
- Red cabbage, coarsely chopped
- Red clover flowers, finely chopped
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1-2 dandelion leaves, finely chopped
- peanut oil
- soy sauce
- powdered ginger
- sugar
Instructions:
Toss salad ingredients together. Make dressing with proportions of ingredients to taste. Combine and serve.
Voila! The salad is not only delicious, it’s also attractive. The red clover flowers bring out the deep purple in the cabbage and contrast nicely with the rich greens of the dandelion and spinach leaves.
Incidentally, I consider this newfound interest in red clovers to be lucky considering my poor luck with both the red and white varieties earlier this summer. After several failed recipe attempts, I was about ready to discard the industrious clover from my repertoire of good-to-eat wild edible plants until I discovered the value in finely chopping and using them as accents instead of main ingredients. Since then I have prepared finely chopped red clovers atop baked tempeh with peanut sauce and also in a stir fry—both with great success. So, please, I beg you, don’t let my prior lamentations on the subject prejudice you against the humble clover flower!
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