Cooking With Clara: Dandelion Salad

A new “season” of Great Depression Cooking with Clara has been produced! I was very happy to have stumbled across this the other day, as I actually found myself wondering last week how Clara was doing and if she and her grandson had any plans for more videos. I’m glad they did, and Clara looks to be doing well!

Great Depression Cooking with Clara is pretty self-explanatory: In an effort to preserve his grandmother’s recipes as well as her memories of growing up during the Great Depression, one of Clara’s grandsons started video taping Clara as she prepares an economical meal and talks about what life was like many years ago.

Clara’s videos so far have included Poor Man’s Meal, Peppers and Eggs, Pasta with Peas, and Egg Drop Soup.

To get things started, Clara digs up the dandelions with a knife right from her own yard. She trims off the roots, the dead leaves and the flowers (you don’t have to let the flowers go to waste, though!) before soaking and washing the remaining greens several times. If you’re going to try her method (commercially bagged dandelion greens are available in most super markets these days) make sure you haven’t used any pesticides on your lawn!

During this process, she talks about how she kept a knife in her purse when she worked at a Hostess bakery so that on her way home she could stop and harvest dandelions to take home to her mother. She also tells a story about food “falling from the sky!”

After several washings, Clara dries the greens and prepares the salad by drizzling lemon juice, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt over them. Clara says it tastes just the same as it did when she was a child, and she stresses again how good dandelion greens are for you.

Have you ever had a dandelion salad?