There is a reason I put the burnt bread with the dandelion salad. Some of you already know.

I’ve been thinking about this dandelion salad as much as I’ve thought about the lamb stew. In my last post, I prepared the Hunger Games lamb stew with dried plums because it was the most talked about dish in all three books of the Hunger Games Trilogy, a story based upon a dystopian society with all the usual oppression and suffering, pushing the reader at all times to look for that glimmer of hope in circumstance and in the heart of the people.

Katniss is only eleven years old and with a dead father and a depressed mother, she is in charge of finding food.

 “For three days, we’d had nothing but boiled water with some old dried mint leaves I’d found in the back of a cupboard.

All forms of stealing are forbidden in District 12. Punishable by death. But it crossed my mind that there might be something in the trash bins, and those were fair game. Perhaps a bone at the butcher’s or rotted vegetables at the grocer’s, something no one but my family was desperate enough to eat. Unfortunately, the bins had just been emptied. When I passed the baker’s, the smell of fresh bread was so overwhelming I felt dizzy. The ovens were in the back, and a golden glow spilled out the open kitchen door.”

Early in book, we feel the pain of  hunger in District 12, and  amidst that suffering, we get to experience the triumph of a kind heart that ensures us that the goodness in humanity can still be found.  A compassionate, if smitten, boy works in his parents bakery. In spite of facing his very unkind mother’s refuff, he burns two loaves of bread.  As Katniss is thrown a burnt loaf  she realizes not only her good fortune, but the compassion that went with it.  We feel her good fortune along with her that night and the next day as she spots some weeds in the meadow.

“I grabbed a bucket and Prim’s hand and headed to the Meadow and yes, it was dotted with the golden-headed weeds. After we’d harvested those, we scrounged along inside the fence for probably a mile until we’d filled the bucket with the dandelion greens, stems, and flowers.  That night, we gorged ourselves on dandelion salad and the rest of the bakery bread.”

Collins, Suzanne (2009). The Hunger Games (p. 50). Scholastic Books. Kindle Edition.

Katniss’s mother was a healer and had a book on herbs and plants and knew the ones that would be harmful. Dandelion was amongst the healing plants, and although in today’s world, some of us mistakenly think of dandelion greens as a mere weed, these are a super food and more than good enough to make a salad from. I am no stranger to dandelion greens and made this stunning dandelion pasta salad with feta cheese a few years ago.

I purchased organic dandelion, and in honor of Katniss, I added in blood orange and made a blood orange salad dressing.  I added in strawberries because  Katniss traded wild strawberries on the black market with the mayor, and it would have made sense for her to have these available to her.Dandelion can taste a little bitter, but keep in mind, it will be the combination of flavors from the salad dressing that will pull it together and bring a perfect balance. I’ll attest to just how good a dandelion salad can be, especially after coming off of an illness, because the body craves nutrition and dandelion is a super food. How much more  welcome the dandelion greens were so to someone who hasn’t eaten for a few days. Tell me after you’ve been sick for a while, what’s the first food you crave? Mine is always greens.

Zest blood orange, lemons into a bowl.

Prepare a teaspoon each of raspberry honey (or regular honey), fig jam, dijon mustard, lemon juice, blood orange juice and a smattering of red chili pepper.

Whisk the mustard into red wine vinegar. Add in olive oil, canola or grape seed oil and whisk to form an emulsion. Add in blood orange juice. The dressing is tangy, spicy, sweet, and tart all at the same time, and perfect over a biter green such as dandelion. Add in slices of blood orange, strawberries and serve with charred crusty bread.

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Hunger Games Dandelion Salad with Blood Orange Salad Dressing

Superfood dandelion greens deserve a tangy salad dressing made from blood oranges, olive oil and red chili pepper. Bright, tart, sweet and spicy all at the same time.

Servings 4

Ingredients

• Dandelion greens
• Dressing
• 1 teaspoon of citrus zest from a combination of blood orange and lemon
• 1 teaspoon of raspberry honey or regular honey
• 1 teaspoon of fig jam optional
• 1/8 teaspoons red chili pepper
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon blood orange juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or canola oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

• Zest the citrus into a small bowl
• Whisk together dijon mustard, honey, fig jam and red wine vinegar and citrus juices.
• Slowly whisk in olive oil and grapeseed oil.
• Season with salt the pepper and taste for heat. Dressing should have a spicy zing to it, which helps to balance the bitterness of the greens.

Notes

This dressing makes enough for 1 bunch of dandelion greens.

You may also want to try this dandelion pasta salad with feta cheese.

The post Hunger Games Dandelion Salad with Blood Orange Salad Dressing appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

How do two food bloggers who are in command of their own kitchens successfully collaborate?

Last weekend I found myself in a beautiful Hollywood Hills home, nesting, shopping, and cooking with one of my favorite food bloggers in the whole world, Greg of Sippity Sup or just Sup.

Sup describes his blog as serious, fun food. I never miss a Sippity Sup post because there is always something good to eat, something to learn about the ingredients, beautiful photography, and best of all his pithy sense of humor shining through.

Everyone needs a colleague that makes them stretch. Sup does this for me. When I’m posting, he’s one of the bloggers I want feedback from, and when we get together, we spend time talking about our blogs like they are our babies.

Our friendship took root in San Francisco at the Food Buzz Festival, but could we click in the kitchen? Well yes, when it’s in a house this pretty. And you should see the kitchen. It’s a wonder we could cook at all and not just relax in this beautiful outdoor pool area.

The salad was our contribution to a neighborhood dinner party, one I wish I could tell you more about, but what happens in Hollywood stays in Hollywood. We decided to both post this same dish today from our individual vantage point.

Pasta salad can be boring, but not when Spinach Tiger and Sippity Sup get together.

As we were standing in this Armenian market admiring the various choices of feta cheese, we both became smitten with a bouquet of bright green dandelion greens. I don’t know the name of the store, but Sup probably can help you with that.

When I lived in California, I took for granted all the various markets and food sources available. Now I pine for them.

In food blogger fashion, neither one of us had cooked with dandelion greens and it excited us.

It’s appearance is similar to arugula, but, the way to tell the difference is the deep tooth of the leaf. This is how dandelion was named. Dent de lion means lion’s tooth, and thus, dandelion. It’s super nutritious, and has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. It is complimented well with a briney feta.

Not all feta cheeses are created equally. This one was very creamy and had a smooth luxurious taste and texture.

If you taste dandelion on its own, it might seem harshly bitter, but once dressed and spiked with a bit of heat, the bitterness seems to disappear, but stays alive enough to awaken your palate. And, dandelion doesn’t wilt very much. When dressed with olive oil and lots of lemon, even on its own, dandelion transforms from bitter to delicious.

Note: I made a Dandelion Salad with Blood Orange in honor of the Hunger Games Trilogy.

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Dandelion Pasta Salad and How Food Bloggers Successfully Collaborate

Dandelions are more than weeds. They make an excellent backdrop for a pasta salad with fresh feta cheese.

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil more as needed
• 1/2 pound feta cheese
• 1 bunch dandelion trimmed
• 1/2 t red pepper  flakes or dried thai chiles
• 1 cup of kalamata olives pitted and halved
• juice and zest of one large lemon
• salt pepper
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add a generous amount of salt. Cook the pasta until al dente according to package directions.
• Whisk the olive oil lemon juice, lemon zest, red-pepper flakes with a pinch of salt in large bowl. Drain the pasta and add it to this mixture, stirring to coat the pasta well. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
• Trim dandelion stems. Rinse and dry. Cut in half. Lay the dandelion greens out onto a large serving platter or bowl. Top them with the still slightly warm pasta and stir to combine. Let the salad cool completely then top with the the olives, feta cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and a few grinds of black pepper.
• Serve at room temperature. If you refrigerate take out an hour before serving.

Instructions

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add a generous amount of salt. Cook the pasta until al dente according to package directions.
• Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, red-pepper flakes with a pinch of salt in large bowl. Drain the pasta and add it to this mixture, stirring to coat the pasta well. Taste for seasoning. Set aside.
• Trim dandelion stems. Rinse and dry. Cut in half. Lay the dandelion greens out onto a large serving platter or bowl. Top them with the still slightly warm pasta and stir to combine. Let the salad cool completely, then top with the the olives, feta cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and a few grinds of black pepper.
• Serve at room temperature. If you refrigerate, take out an hour before serving.

The post Dandelion Pasta Salad and How Food Bloggers Successfully Collaborate appeared first on Spinach Tiger.