A decent, if somewhat bitter, November salad

Enjoying the warm, very rainy day here on the Island. Picked some greens and the last orange pepper for a salad tonight - pretty decent for November! chard leaves, endives, parsley, jalapeno pepper, nasturtium flowers and leaves,purple kale,(I LOVE the colour of this kale!), lettuce,cress, beet greens - fortunately I happen to love bitter greens, as these Winter leaves tend to be. I could have added some grated beets, too - and will soon have some sprouting broccoli ready to pick. My neighbour has sprouting cauliflower, which is amazing - I've never seen it grow multiple sprouts like that - I will have to get a photo of it to show you.

greens galore

The greens have grown huge overnight!These Stir fry Blend seeds came from West Coast Seeds companyhttp://www.westcoastseeds.com/ and include komatsuna, pac choi, choy sum, bau sin, red kale, giant red mustard, shungiku, and tah tsai.I planted them closer together than the packet said, and am using the thinnings first. I whisked together some soy sauce, ginger, garlic, a pinch of brown sugar, red pepper flakes and oil to marinate tofu-fry the tofu first, remove it from the pan, then throw in the chopped greens until they're almost wilted, then add the rest of the marinade from the tofu. I pressed the tofu first to give it a firmer texture. eat it up with some brown rice and sesame seeds~ so good! happy green growing!

The Joy of Dandelions

Sauteed dandelion greens and dandelion blossom tea is on the menu for tonight. I love any kind of bitter veggie - radicchio, arugula, and especially dandelions. Here's a recipe for dandelion blossom tea: Dandelion Flower Tea Recipe

Steep them in a cup of water for about 15-20 minutes.

Add a little sweetener of your choice and your cup of dandelion tea is ready.

One of the key benefits of dandelion tea is that it has a great detoxification effect on the liver

I know my liver could use some detoxification, so I'm going to sautee greens, too - with garlic and sesame seeds. Here's a recipe:

Dandelion Greens Saute 1 lb. dandelion greens 3 tablespoons olive oil 5 cloves garlic 1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Wash and slice greens. Blanch in enough water to cover about 1 minute. Drain and saute in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes, then add the sesame and garlic and saute for couple minutes more. Add the sesame oil and serve.

Dandelion is also known as Taraxacum officinale, lion's tooth, blowball, cankerwort, priest's crown, swine snout, and wild endive.

Dandelion has been used for its nutritional value as well as for water retention, regulation of blood glucose, upset stomach, urinary tract infections, kidney and bladder stones, liver and gallbladder complaints, and loss of appetite.

I leave you with this from Walt Whitman, and may your liver quiver with the joy of dandelions!

The First Dandelion Simple and fresh and fair from winter's close emerging, As if no artifice of fashion, business, politics, had ever been, Forth from its sunny nook of shelter'd grass--innocent, golden, calm as the dawn, The spring's first dandelion shows its trustful face. Source: "Leaves of Grass," by Walt Whitman