Rekindling the Romance With Salad

I got sick of salads long before I ever went vegan. We had salad most days with dinner growing up but it was the same everyday and I am one who lives for variety. So I rarely eat salad unless someone makes it for me. I am trying to change that as the salad is simply a medium through which one can unleash culinary creativity. When properly assembled, the salad can be a game changer when it comes to keeping one healthy.

I learned a while back just how fantastic bitter green vegetables are for the digestive system and I need to eat leafy greens to keep my iron up anyway. Dandelions have become my all time favorite since I found them in the budget grocery stores. They are bitter, very bitter. I always hated bitter foods so I weaned myself on to them slowly, starting with slightly bitter greens like escarole, working up to off season dandelions then the more bitter in season ones. I typically just much on them without any dressing but putting them in a salad makes dandelions far more palatable. Dressing and raw cashews really cut down on the bitterness. 

Dandelions need to be washed well then I chop them up with kitchen scissors because it is easy. French dressing went nicely with this salad in the end. 

This salad is pretty simple.

• Dandelion (or another bitter green) washed and chopped
• Pepper
• Cucumber
• Raw cashews to combat the bitter a bit
• Hemp seeds for protein
• Dressing

One final note on bitter greens, the best food in the world, if you want to counter the bitterness of anything, people often search for something sweet. While sweet may help a little, pungent spicy flavors cover bitter up better.