Dandelion Green Salad (with Beets and Carrots)

I tried some dandelion greens straight from the garden and yard last weekend, and they were so good! Now is a good time to eat them because they are still young, tender, and not overly bitter. Plus they are plentiful. I was walking in the park last night, enjoying the 80 degrees, and noticed tons of baby dandelion plants that could be picked.

You want to look for dandelions that have not flowered yet, and then look for ones with smooth (as opposed to furry) leaves. If you look around at a few, you can compare leaves to better understand smooth versus furry. The smooth ones are the ones you are looking for to eat in a salad, and they will be a variety of sizes. Use a dandelion picker to pick the whole root and get all the leaves (and rid your garden of the dandelion), or just pick the leaves off and deposit them right into your colander. They are pretty fragile, so it is best to pick them soon before consuming them. You can rinse and wash them, and spin them dry in a salad spinner - they will get bruised, but that is not a problem for this salad.

This salad of beets, dandelion greens and carrots perfectly complement each other: the bitter greens match the sweeter raw veggies in a really delicious combo. Fresh spring green onions are also nice for the mild flavor, the smaller ones you can find the better. My Charming Companion made this salad up, and there was not any measuring going on. Below are some close estimates, but feel free to take some liberties.

This is about 2 big handfuls of the washed greens

Dandelion, beet, carrot salad
1-2 c dandelion greens, chopped
1/2 raw beet, grated
1 carrot, grated
7-8 small green onions, chopped*
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T olive oil
1 T mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c toasted almonds
*the smaller green onions are more mild. If you only have large ones, chop the white part very fine and use a few less.

Combine all of the ingredients but the almonds in a bowl, stir to coat all the veggies with the oil and lemon. Sprinkle almonds on top and serve!