Pre-Launch 4/20 Special!
Good Morning. I’m June Leigh Peaches. And I’ve been told that today is some sort of official unofficial holiday that has something to do with weeds.
In my yards and gardens – which have ruefully been neglected for quite some time – I have a veritable proliferation of little garden thugs. Dandelion, among them. I remember giving my cousin a makeover as a kid. I delicately dusted her face with natures very own banana powder: dandelion pollen.
But in addition to making your beauty clients look jaundiced, dandelions are also edible! To celebrate this Intergalactical Weed Day – because I was told that y’all also like edible weeds, too – here is a recipe for Sautéed Dandelion Greens.
I’m fortunate enough that my vegetable monger has been very well stocked during these strange and uncertain times. And with this “extra” time on my hands – not like I’m dying of boredom or anything – I’ve decided to try new vegetables that aren’t part of my normal trunk show.
Dandelions. Well…
Years ago, I suggested dandelion greens to Mr. Peaches. He’s not necessarily an adventurous eater, so this was some tough convincing. He might be known to eat a chicken foot in oyster sauce time by time, but most things are a very hard sell. Like my famous secret recipe Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Him: “I should hope that things don’t get so bad that we have to eat weeds.”
Fast forward to today: we have Times… Difficult, uncertain, and strange for sure.
But today is also 4/20… a day in which we celebrate the weeds, chile!
Dandelion – much like any other bitter green – can surprise to splendrous effect when allowed the proper intendance. I kept this in mind when building the flavor profile for this recipe. Sweet. Umami. Pick the right dance partners and your dandelions are the dancing hippos from Disney’s Fantasia (1940). Pick the wrong dance partners and all you got is some damn hippos galavanting through a field of yellow sadness…
The umami booster is the secret: Anchovies! This – a food item more reviled than pineapples on pizza – joins the flavor party not with an overabundance of dank fish. Instead, the fish blossoms into this full bodied apparition of Flavor. Open your mind, if you’re not a fan. Who knows what new treasures hide behind untried treats.
If you do like to eat your greens – an excellent source of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals – this recipe will surely not disappoint! And I can’t think of a better way so celebrate Weed Day with a recipe that’s a hybrid of bitter and sweet, crossed with sharp and mellow.
Sautéed Dandelion Greens
Ingredients
- 2 lb dandelion greens roughly chopped
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 oz Italian sausage
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 4 cloves garlic sliced
- 4 anchovies
- 4 oz sun-dried tomatoes sliced
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Soak dandelion greens in a large bowl with water brine made of 2 Tbsp salt for 10 minutes. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil in the meantime. Drain and rinse greens, then boil for 10 minutes. Transfer greens to an ice bath. Drain, and express extra moisture, then set aside.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown sausage, using a spatula to break up the meat. Cook until browned and crumbly, then set aside.
- In the same skillet, melt butter with existing pan fats. Add onions and season with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper; cook until the onion begins to caramelize. Then add garlic and anchovies to sauté until the anchovies have broken down – 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add blanched dandelion greens and sauté for about 7- 10 minutes. Pour in chicken broth, then toss in sun-dried tomatoes and reserved sausage to combine – cooking for another 2 minutes.
- Serve hot, garnished with parmesan cheese, to taste.
Video
June Peaches
June. Leigh. Peaches. She’s that every woman they sang about in that song. Butcher. Baker. Candlestick maker. Champion and mistress of all things domestic. Seamstress. Craft-a-holic. Southern belle. And if it weren’t for allergies, she’d grow an amazing garden too. The culinary fantasy. The domestic illusion.
