Country Chatter

These two foods rank extremely high on my list of favorite foods.  I can chow down and make a whole meal of a big bowl of either one. Before you turn up your nose, let me tell you about this delicious, hearty, salad green and I will also share my recipe at the end of this post.

I grew up on both of these salad greens. As a child, we never ate cooked collard, kale, mustard or turnip greens as Mother was more of a “northern” cook! I am finding most people around here have never heard of endive and have no idea they can eat the dandelion weed. Endive salad is a “must have” standard at my (the Heatwole) families Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

Dandelion:

This is an early spring delight. You gather the dandelion BEFORE it shoots a bloom or it will be bitter.  With a knife, very carefully dig up the stalk but not the root.  The hardest thing about dandelion is cleaning as it tends to be fragile and dirty.

Endive:

Endive is planted and grown from a seed just like lettuce. It forms a loose, upright head, a lot like Oakleaf lettuce.  I planted it the end of August and we have been eating on it for weeks. It regrows after it is cut and light frost does not hurt it.

I plant Green Curled Ruffec Endive from Bfg Supply (Wetsels).

Recipe:

Chop the greens into a bowl. (Maybe 4 packed cups worth)

Add:

• 1/4 c.  chopped onion,
• 2 slices of crumbled, fried bacon
• Two hard-boiled eggs chopped

Warm dressing:

Cook together:

• 1-2 tsp. bacon grease-put in small skillet

Put in sealed container and shake together until mixed.

• 1 cup water
• 1 raw egg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. apple vinegar
• 2 T. All-Purpose flour

Pour in skillet with bacon grease and cook over medium-high heat until thickened.  This only takes a few minutes. Pour warm dressing over greens. Eat immediately.

I have found that if I have some left over, simply refrigerate. I even like it cold the next day for lunch.

Serves 4 or if at our table, 2 people!!!!

One helpful hint: I buy 3 lb. packages of thick-sliced bacon and fry it all up at once. After it cools slightly, I chop it into small pieces and freeze. I save some of the grease in another container and freeze especially when we are in endive season. It doesn’t seem as big of a job to make the salad if you don’t have to fry the bacon every night. I have found it is also really, really handy to have the bacon on hand to add to snaps, scrambled eggs, salads, etc.

So, how many of you know about the “joy” of endive or dandelion salad? Respond in the comment section. I would love to hear your story!