by aargersi
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by Sarah Shatz
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by Sarah Shatz
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by Sarah Shatz
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by aargersi
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by aargersi
A&M's Testing Notes:
Expand Collapseaargersi's Notes:
Expand1 big bunch of dandelion greens, about 4 heaping cups when cleaned Ask a question about this ingredient
1 large leek (or 2 small ones) Ask a question about this ingredient
6 strips bacon (some of the bacon inevitably gets swiped during the cooking process) Ask a question about this ingredient
1/3 cup red wine vinegar Ask a question about this ingredient
2 tablespoons maple syrup Ask a question about this ingredient
1/4 cup olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient
pepper Ask a question about this ingredient
4 eggs Ask a question about this ingredient
a pot of salted water with a spash of white vinegar for poaching. Ask a question about this ingredient
Clean the dandelions: remove the thick part of the stems and gently tear the leaves into bite size pieces. Wash them and dry them very thoroughly. Put them in a big bowl that you can toss the salad in.
Ask a question about this stepPrepare the leeks: I used the chop first, rinse second method, and then took them for a spin in the salad spinner to dry. It worked great! Use white and light green parts only and chop faily small - I quartered the leek and cut 1/4 inch strips. Put a large pot of salted water on and get it started for poaching the eggs, add a splash of white vinegar to the pot as well. Crack each egg into an individual dish.
Ask a question about this stepNow cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp. Remove it to drain and turn the heat to medium. I didn't remove any fat from the pan but bacon differs - if you have a deep layer of fat in the pan maybe remove a little. Add the leeks and cook them until they are quite soft. Turn off the heat and add the vinegar, stirring to get the good bits up off the pan. Pour the leeks and all of the liquid into a small bowl, grind some pepper in and add the oilve oil and maple syrup. Whisk the dressing and taste - mine had plenty of salt from the bacon but add more if you need it. Also test acidity, you may want another splash of vinegar. Crumble the bacon onto the greens. Toss the warm dressing with the dandelion greens and bacon.
Ask a question about this stepPoach the eggs: slide each one into the boiling water and let them poach for 3-4 minutes. While they are poaching go ahead and toss the greens a few more times (the warm dressing will wilt them ever so slightly) and then portion them onto 4 plates. Make sure that each plate gets equal amount of bacon or fights will break out.
Ask a question about this stepTop each salad with a poached egg, grind a bit more pepper over the top, and serve. Enjoy the springtime!!!
Ask a question about this stepYou're my #1!
I love dandelion greens. I think they are highly underappreciated. Congrats!
Congrats again for being a finalist!!!!
Hope to see you soon if you survived NOLA!!! Loved the pics over the weekend!
Tina
Congrats to you. Inspiring idea...if it wasn't the finalist for this weeks contest, you could have resubmitted for the dirt cheap dinner,"cooks with weeds" but whatever the theme--this one is a winner!
We have been know to pick and eat random volunteers out of the yard!!
My neighbor uses no weed killer in his lawn, so I decided to try his "wild ones", rather than those from the store. Also substituted a green onion for the leeks and artificial maple syrup for the real stuff - using what I had available. Made a half recipe, with just one egg (I'm alone this week). Despite all the substitution, my first attempt at deandelion anything turned out scrumptious!
With an overabundance of dandelion in my yard. I relished the thought of munching down this for the first time ever. Loved it. Plus, I think the subtle bitterness is very healthy. Thank you from Montana.
I just happened to have a bunch of dandelion greens calling to me in my refrigerator and so I made this amazing dish tonight for dinner. It was absolutely great. The flavor combinations are perfect, and dandelion greens are tough to work with due to their bitterness. The maple syrup was particularly inspired, aargersi, and really made the dish a standout! You've got my vote!! Congrats!!
I just so happened to be over at aargersi's last weekend when she pulled out a huge bunch of dandelion greens from the fridge (yes, I too have tons in my backyard that I can't bring myself to eat...yet!). I've never been a big fan of them, but in humoring Mrs. A, I let myself be a guinea pig once more. I mean, c'mon! Who turns down free food from the kitchen of this woman!? Well guess what? I'm now a huge fan of the bitter, pesky green (of course, I'll eat anything with bacon on or in it!). This salad is a great starter or side, with or without the egg (I went sans). Truly worth trying out! — I may have to stop mowing for a bit to harvest some tender baby greens for myself. :-)
I love the way you sweeten the larger dandelion greens that you can buy with the maple syrup!! I prefer to eat the younger plants from my back yard because the larger ones I find to be bitter. But the syrup with the egg and bacon, it's like breakfast greens. Great combo.
Woowoo! Go aargersi! Wow. I've only ever made dandelion greens in ways where I didn't manage to overcome the bitterness and I couldn't quite enjoy them. I am most definitely going to need to try this.
Hey Dr B! We are en route to NOLA and we will tip a couple in your honor!!
Congrats--this looks SO good! I'd throw the whole mess on top of a slice of grilled French bread!
You may just get me to try dandelion greens.
congratulations! I'm making this tomorrow for breakfast!
Congrats, Abbie! This salad sounds delicious, and once I have my kitchen back I'm going to make it.
Congrats aargesi! I love dandelion greens - they are a great detoxifier. I will make this for sure!
I'm excited to try this. I keep wanting to like dandelion greens, since I have plenty of them (ahem!), but I just thought mine were some kinda crazy extra bitter.
WTG,aargersi, I am picturing you doing the kitchen dance, congrats and luck to you!
I am so excited! Thanks all! ** shimmying around the kitchen! **
congratulations! I think I will check my yard as well.
Congrats, a! I got dandelion greens in my CSA box this week and I know exactly what to do with them. What a gorgeous salad!
Congrats abbie! If only I had this recipe in my back pocket all winter. I got a bunch of dandelion greens every week in my CSA and I couldn't figure out how to tame them. This will be my secret weapon next CSA season!
Wonderful recipe, aargersi! I am crazy for poached eggs over salad greens or asparagus. I am putting this is my save file. Thank you.
Thanks! Me too! I mean, bacon and a poached egg and it can't be bad!!!!
Nice! Whipping out that sexy poached egg again, I see. hla is right on - pick these before they flower - or so I've been told.
Sexy food! A poached egg and bacon will never do you wrong. Congrats, Abbie! We just had about 10,000 dandelions on our lawn ... a record year for us. For some reason, i can't bring myself to eat them, yet I'd buy them at the farmers market, no problem. Where is my foraging spirit?
Oh yum!! Can one use greens dug up from the (pesticide-free) front yard?
I don't see why not - I am not sure the farmers market lady didn't do just that :-) Do they look more or less like the ones in the picture?
you can absolutely use the ones from your yard, but pick the young greens only as the old ones get really bitter.
Andrew is an artisan chocolatier and the owner of Garrison Confections Gourmet Chocolate Shop.
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Bacon, dandelion greens, maple, leek, egg, red wine vinegar.
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An infiltrator!
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Nevermind, it's just the littlest food stylist.
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Six fat slices of bacon is a promising start to any recipe. Don't worry if they're scrunched in, sardine-style -- you'll see how much they shrink up in the next slide.
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Bacon beauty shot!
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A wild heap of bitter greens.
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Merrill happily swishes any dirt off the greens in a big bowl of cool water.
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All cleaned up and -- almost -- ready for their close-up. (We used the old chop-and-rinse-furiously trick on those leeks in the colander.)
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After the greens were spun dry, we tore them into more manageable bites.
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Sometimes, Amanda likes to pretend she's tall.
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Leeks softened in bacon fat are about to be joined by red wine vinegar.
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And olive oil.
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And maple syrup.
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Aargersi is right on when she admits that some bacon gets swiped in the cooking process. We're already down a slice.
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Sometimes, you can be the picture of elegance in the kitchen (please see Amanda). And sometimes, you splash bacon grease on your nice shirt. We've all been there.
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Remembering a cool egg-poaching video from Bon Appetit recently featured in Feed52, the whole crew gathers round for a refresher course.
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Breaking each egg into its own bowl helps you not lose control as you slide the egg into simmering water.
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Easing the egg into a spoon in the water helps contain and shape it (and it doesn't stick!).
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You can use a second spoon to nudge any escaping tendrils of egg white back into place on the spoon.
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Now that's how you poach an egg! Ready to be dispatched by fork and knife.
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This salad rocks! Just made it for supper with a few minor alterations due to poor grocery shopping skills and laziness. Used a mix of red onion and shallot instead of leeks. Used sherry vinegar (for some reason I was out of red wine vinegar.) Instead of poaching the eggs I used the hot skillet I'd cooked the bacon in to baste them (i.e. cook them sunny side up with a lid over them so the top white gets cooked, but the yolk is still runny.) My husband and I ate the whole bowl full! Thanks for such a delicious use of dandelion greens.