Hindbeh (Lebanese-style sautéed bitter greens)

Hindbeh Lebanese (sauteed bitter greens)

Here’s a way to cook and eat dandelion greens. They’re still bitter, so this dish would make a nice complement to more unctuous foods in. Serves 8.

Ingredients:
Dandelion greens or other bitter green, 1 gallon or so, carefully picked over and washed
1/2 t baking soda
2 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 T pine nuts (optional)
3 T lemon juice
1 t salt OR 1 T zataar (if you have it)
1 onion, sliced and fried OR 3 oz crispy onions from a can

Method: bring 2 quarts water to boil in a stew pot; add baking soda. Add bitter greens and push down with a wooden spoon to immerse. Cook 2 minutes or so to blanch the greens and transfer to a colander. Drain then dry thoroughly by squeezing and with a paper towel. The gallon of uncooked greens should have reduced to a quart.

Fried onions from the store will save you a lot of time in this prep.

Fry onions according to this method or else just use canned fried onions, which saves a lot of time and tastes just as good.

In a large skillet, heat oil and saute chopped garlic and pine nuts until brown but not burned. Remove and reserve. Add greens and toss to heat all surfaces; return garlic and pine nuts to the mix, add lemon juice and salt (or zataar, the middle eastern wild thyme and sesame seed mix) and adjust seasoning to taste. Mix in about half the fried onions then serve with the other half on top for diners to combine to their preference.