A Table: Dandelion Greens & Beets Done Sweet

My name is Lauren Cerand, and I'm delighted to be a core member and new recipe editor. Please visit every Wednesday morning for a recipe or two inspired by the preview list.


Here is this week's list (recipes follow):


Small Share


1 bunch  Beets
1 head Lettuce
1 bunch mini purplette  Onions
Sugar snap peas
1 head Yukina Tatsoi
1 bunch Dandelion Greens


Large Share


1 bunch   Beets
1 head Lettuce
1 bunch mini purplette Onions
Sugar snap peas
1 head Yukina Tatsoi
1 bunch Dandelion Greens
1/3# Mizuna Mix
1 bunch Radishes
1/2# Baby Swiss Chard

A couple of tricky ones this week! Beets and dandelion greens. I had dandelion greens for the first time last spring, when I spent almost a week in Santa Cruz and shopped almost exclusively at the farmers market there. 

I stayed in a great little apartment with a couple of resident cats outside (see above for a snapshot of my good friend "Orange Fluff"), spent my days on the patio and at the beach, and wondered what to do with dandelion greens. Here are a few lovely options for this magnificent vegetable, "named after the phrase dent de lion, or 'lion's tooth,'" ranging from simply tearing and serving the leaves to a Provencal soup.


The conventional approach to beets is roasting. However, at the Fat Radish, the Lower East Side's own vanguard for the farm-to-table movement, there's a beet chocolate cake that I've often sampled. While I didn't have time to write the owners and ask for the recipe, I did find one online for double dark chocolate beet muffins that would make a very special Fourth of July brunch.