Picking Dandelions with My Nonna

As far back as I can remember I would love to go dandelion picking with my grandmother.  Late spring and early summer were the time we would set out on our adventure.  I would know the time had come when Nonna got a paper grocery bag and her knife.  Her property was bounded by a huge pasture where her neighbor grazed his cows.  When the cows left the field, we would walk down her path to the stone wall fence and climb down into the pasture. The fertile ground revealed it's tender young crop of dandelions.  Now, some would consider dandelions just weeds, but to us, they were a delicious delight.  We would walk together looking for these tender young plants.  When We found one, we would bend down and insert the knife into the ground, making a circular sweep to release the plant from its root.  Into the bag it went.  As we walked sometimes she would pick a "buttercup" blossom and showed me if you held it under your chin, the sun would reflect on the yellow blossom and it would show up on your chin.  I also collected the dandelion flowers and their long stems in MY bag.  I had fun making chains from the stems when we got back.  We walked through the field cutting and depositing the dandelions into the bag until it was full.  Then we would return to her kitchen to wash and rinse them in the sink.  We made many trips to the pasture over the spring and summer to harvest the dandelions.

There were two ways we prepared them; either raw in a salad or sauteed.  My Nonna called them "grunia" a sort of slang dialect for "greens".

My favorite way to eat them was raw, dressed with olive oil and wine vinegar and tossed with fresh pressed garlic, salt and pepper.  A fun ending was when the bowl was empty and the dinner was over, we would grab a hunk or fresh bread and sop up the remaining dressing in the bowl.

RECIPE:  Grunia Two Ways

#1 Fresh

What you need:  

Fresh dandelions (no flowers or buds), either harvested by you (no pesticides please), or store bought.  You can find these in whole food stores, usually called Italian Dandelions (sometimes spendy I might add).

Olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Fresh garlic, pressed
Salt
Pepper

What you do:

Wash the dandelions and cut the root off, separating the leaves.  Remove any buds or flowers, (stems included).

Cut into bite size pieces if necessary and place in a bowl.

Add oil and vinegar in a ration of 3 oil:1 vinegar.  Add pressed garlic to taste, salt and fresh cracked pepper.

Toss and serve as a side salad to your meal.

We would sometimes also add anchovies to our salad.

#2 Cooked

Wash the dandelions and cut root off, separating the leaves.  Remove anhy buds or flowers (stems included).

Heat olive oil in a saute pan.  Add pressed garlic and saute just until garlic softens.  Do not let it brown.  Reduce heat and add dandelion greens.  Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.  Saute until wilted.

Serve as a cooked side to your meal.