For many gardeners, dandelion is just an unnecessary weed, but for me it is a valuable food! Our walks in the spring in the fields around our village are to collect wild plants – dandelion leaves and flowers, nettle and dock leaves, sorrel and red dead nettle. Usually I add wild plants raw to salads or sauces, and nettle must be cooked.

Dandelion leaves were a traditional ingredient in spring salads in the past, but are now less and less used as food. It usually has a slightly bitter taste, which not everyone likes. I soak the dandelion leaves in cold water for 10 minutes and then the specific bitter taste is not felt. Whenever I have, I add sliced leaves to our salads – it gives a specific taste and aroma that is slightly similar to the taste and aroma of arugula. In the recipe for Red spring salad I combine the light bitterness of dandelion leaves with the pleasant sweetness of roasted red beet root. The softness of cooked chickpeas contrasts with the slight crispness of the beetroot pieces. There is a slight aroma of beets in the salad, as the aroma of roasted sesame seeds from sesame tahini dominates. I prepare this salad in our days for spring detox and serve it as a separate dish for dinner. On other days I serve the salad as an addition to other dishes.

Red spring salad

Course: Recipes, Salads

Количество

1150

грама

Подготовка

minutes

Готвене

minutes

Калории

1071.96

ккал

Chickpea salad with roasted beetroot and dandelion leaves

INGREDIENTS

roasted beets
700g red beet root
5 g Himalayan pink salt
can be replaced with any other salt
3 g dill seeds
3 g caraway seeds
can be replaced with cumin seeds
baking paper
tray with lid
salad
380 g chickpeas pre-cooked
can be replaced with canned chickpeas
100 g dandelion leaves
60 g fresh lemon juice
40 g sesame tahini
5 g Himalayan pink salt
can be replaced with any other salt
2 g ground long pepper /pippali/
can be replaced with ground black pepper

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

I clean and peel the red beet roots, wash them and drain well. I weigh the required amount of the recipe with a kitchen scale. With a sharp knife I cut the red beets into 1 cm cubes. I put the chopped beets in a bowl, I add the salt and spices, stir by hand until the spices are evenly distributed. I cover the pan with baking paper, put the beets with the spices in an even layer, close with the lid. I bake in a preheated oven at 200°C with a fan for 30 minutes. I take the pan out of the oven, remove the lid and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
I wash the dandelion leaves well under running water and drain well. With a sharp knife I cut the leaves into small pieces.
In a large bowl I put the cooked chickpeas and chopped dandelion leaves, add the cooled roasted red beet root. I add salt and ground long pepper, sesame tahini and freshly squeezed lemon juice. I stir until all the ingredients are well mixed.
I serve the salad in suitable plates as a separate dish for dinner.