Dandelions and Fruits

Fruits are in season, so that means they taste as good as they're gonna taste all year and it means they're on sale. Last week I got blueberries and strawberries for $1.50/container each. I think they were 8 oz and 1 lb respectively.

I also learned about the technology of the food processor, so now I can make beet salad in 4 minutes instead of a half hour. It does my grating. Beets are $0.99/lb loose. Sometimes they have their leaves attached. The price is the same, so sometimes if I want leaves I get the leaf ones. Then I can make beet salad with grated beets and carrots, lemon juice and oil (canola or olive, depending on what I want it to taste like) and parsley. When I visit my parents, I add goat cheese and toasted nuts. But recently here I have been adding blue berries. What a lot of colors that has. Probably pretty healthy too. Raw colorful vegetables are healthy.

My usual side salad is chicory or escarole with a dressing made with olive oil and either lemon juice or red wine vinegar. Lately I've taken to adding slivered fennel and quartered strawberries to that. It's pretty good. Agnes likes strawberry salad.

The other day she was coming over, so I was going to make strawberry salad for her. Jesus didn't have the chicory or escarole out yet, so I bought dandelions for $1.49 for a bunch. I never had them before, but they looked interesting. I got home and tried and leaf and it was SO bitter. Too bitter for a strawberry salad, especially one for Agnes. So I went back later and got escarole.

I decided I could use dandelions in a pasta. I used whole wheat pasta, sausage, a shallot, and some fennel. Top it with lots and lots of grated cheese. The dandelions get less bitter if you cook them down and if you salt them and if the sausage is fatty. I tried making it again with chicken sausage a week later and it was too bitter.

Most stores sell whole wheat pasta in boxes that are only 13.25 oz instead of 16 oz and they still cost more than regular pasta. I found a bag of whole wheat pasta that was 16 oz and only $1.33 at Trader Joe's, so that's where I'll shop next time I made dandelion pasta. I don't know what else I can use dandelions for yet, but I like them.