The craziest and most difficult things about this dandelion salad with grapes are the ingredients. But as with most salads (or most of our recipes), feel free to get creative with this one. Exact measurements are just not necessary. And so are the exact ingredients. Even if you’re missing one thing or adding something you have lying around and feel would go well. It’ll probably still be great. The assembly is actually super easy and will only take a couple of minutes.
The only part that needs a bit of preparation is the quick pickled red onions. But they are super easy to make. Just mix with salt, sugar, neutral oil, and a splash of red wine vinegar. No hot water is needed. We want the tanginess from the vinegar without losing the crunch. They are not quite the same as your usual pickled red onions, but they are equally delicious.
Dandelion Salad With Grapes
Ingredients
- 1 cup grapes ideally seedless and very firm
- 1 bunch dandelion or any bitter leaf will do
- 1 small cucumber cut lengthwise and sliced thin
- handful salanova lettuce leaves
- pecorino cheese shaved
- 1/2 tsp nigella seeds black cumin seeds
- 1/2 red onion sliced thin
- 1 splash of red wine vinegar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1 tsp neutral oil
- 1 gulp of live oil
- flaky salt
- a bit of bronze fennel possibly hard to get, a very sweet anise-y herb, you could sub it for fennel fronds (the green fuzzy part or another herb like tarragon, mint or dill.)
Instructions
- Quick pickle the red onion by mixing it with salt, sugar, neutral oil and a splash of red wine vinegar. Press it a bit with your fingers or a spoon and let it marinate for 10 minutes.
- If using dandelion, blanch it for 2 minutes in boiling salted water. Then transfer into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and chop into small pieces.
- In a large bowl, add flaky salt, a generous splash of red wine vinegar, olive oil and nigella seeds. Add in the grapes, dandelion, onion and cucumber and mix well.
- Pluck and wasch lettuce leaves.
- Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large plate, scoop over the grape mix, making sure to get a lot of the dressing with it to dress the lettuce. Sprinkle over the pecorino shavings and bronze fennel. As always, finish with a generous splash of olive oil.
