Rites of Spring
Rites of Spring
Carrying on the annual tradition of a dandelion salad over the decades
This post is adapted from a column in the Centre Daily Times in 2000. Dandelion season is just about over here in Centre County, though tender leaves can still be found around the perimeter of the mown lawns. But I was very pleased to hear from our daughter Rose that she and baby Iris recently gathered dandelion leaves on a hike in Alpine, Wyoming, and revived our annual tradition. That warmed my heart.
Spring rituals don’t have to be as formal and as much effort as a Passover Seder or an Easter dinner. Each year, my friend Natalie Thorington and I meet for a meal, and we gather with our daughters. Natalie and Natasha pick all the dandelions in their yard, and Rose and I pluck all that we can from our yard, wash them, dry them, and toss them with a hot bacon dressing that wilts them slightly. We garnish the salad with slices of hard-boiled egg and scatter chopped chives and violet blossoms on the top. Then, we feast on our deck, usually the first outdoor dinner of the season. It’s a ritual we’ve been doing for years and may be the only time we see each other in months, but the anticipation of it and the happy memory stays with us the whole year.
Those insistent little tufts of wild chives (Allium schoenoprasum) and delicate crowns of tender dandelion leaves (Taraxacum officinale) on our lawns in April are a sure indication of spring. Now is the time to snip the chives into scrambled eggs or salads and use the young dandelion plant in various ways before the roaring legions of neighborhood lawn attendants mow them into anonymity.
Bane of well-groomed lawn-lovers, dandelion is one of nature’s most nutritious spring heralds. It has been eaten for centuries to supply much-needed vitamins to people who subsisted on a diet of meats or beans and dried or salted foods. As welcome as a fragrant spring breeze, dandelions give the body a powerhouse of vitamins and minerals. Cooked dandelion greens, in a one-cup or 105-gram portion, provide enormous amounts of vitamin A and substantial amounts of vitamin C. Also rich in B vitamins and calcium, dandelions are low in calories—about 35 for a cup of cooked vegetable and 25 calories before the dressing for raw.
To use the dandelion for salad, choose tender young leaves from plants that have not bloomed yet. Once they bloom, they are tougher and not as good for eating. Dandelions bloom early, so there is some urgency for those who like to take advantage of this eager and innocuous plant.
The first sign of dandelion’s emergence is a reddish tangle of leaves at the top of a very steadfast perennial root. The roots can be peeled, cooked, and eaten as a vegetable like parsnips, or roasted in a low oven for four hours until they break with a snap. Ground dandelion roots are a coffee substitute and can be enjoyed as you would your coffee, with or without a sweetener and cream.
On the top of the dandelion root is a crown of whitish leaf stems that reaches the surface. This tender crown can be eaten raw in a salad or cooked like a vegetable. The jagged leaves that give the plant its name, “dent de lion,” from the French “tooth of the lion,” are shiny and smooth. The part that develops into the blossom is found inside the crown as a tightly packed, yellowish mass of embryonic bloom. It can be lightly cooked and seasoned and enjoyed as a vegetable reminiscent of artichokes. Once the flower blooms, salad days are over, though some folks like to collect the blossoms to make into wine. The puffy seed masses are not edible but are highly esteemed by children who like to make wishes on them and then see if they can blow them all off.
BIG WARNING: Do not gather dandelions or any other wild plant to consume from lawns or areas that are or may have been treated with herbicides/pesticides. Don’t spray those friendly weeds—eat them for a spring tonic. Also, be wary of gathering dandelion leaves in lawns that pets frequent, and you can guess the reason.
Dandelion Salad
Serves 4
4 quarts dandelion greens
4 strips bacon
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup apple cider vinegar
1 ½ cups water
1 egg, beaten
3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
Violets for garnish
Wash, dry, and cut up tender dandelion greens. Cook bacon over medium-low heat until crisp. Remove bacon from the pan, crumble, and reserve. In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, and salt. In liquid measure, combine vinegar, water, and beaten egg. Pour liquids into dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour this mixture into the bacon drippings and heat, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Pour warm dressing over the dandelion greens and top with crumbled bacon and hard-boiled egg slices. Toss lightly and serve immediately, garnished with violets if desired.
Note: This recipe makes a lot of dressing. Depending on how many leaves you gather, you may only need to use half of it. But save it and heat it for another round of salad when you find more, or serve it as a spinach salad dressing.
Update!
If dandelions are not available—or you don’t want to bend down to gather them—chicory makes a great substitute. I purchased some from Mike Arthur of Tamarack Farm at last week’s Boalsburg Farmers Market, and today, I’ll go back for more because the dressing made enough for three salads.
