Recipe for "dandelions"

NAME

     DANDELIONS - Dinner salad made with dandelions and cheese
     The U.S. Department of Agriculture once had a  big  presence
     in  the  life of the average American. Their publications on
     home canning, gardening, and cooking found  their  way  into
     almost every household in the country.
     The USDA Food and Nutrition Service still exists,  and  they
     still  produce  books and pamphlets on every topic having to
     do with growing, eating, and analyzing food. In this era  of
     frozen  food,  microwave ovens, and iceberg lettuce, there's
     much less demand for their books than there once was.
     In time for the  Bicentennial,  the  USDA  produced  a  book
     called Favorite American Recipes, which is a non-copyrighted
     collection of traditional American rural and  farm  recipes.
     All  are simple and nutritious; most are also a little dull.
     Here's one that I like.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

     200 g     tender, fresh dandelion greens
     65 g      thinly sliced red onions
     2         tomatoes, cut in fourths.
     110 g     sharp cheddar cheese, grated
     2.5 ml    black pepper
     60 ml     salad oil
     50 ml     vinegar
     5 ml      dill

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Wash the dandelion greens  carefully.  Drain  well
               and cut into pieces.
          (2)  Add the onions, tomatoes, and cheese. Toss to mix.
          (3)  Make a salad dressing by mixing the pepper,  salad
               oil,  vinegar,  and  dill.  Dress the salad, toss,
               and serve.

NOTES

     Make sure that you take the dandelion  greens  from  a  lawn
     that  has  not  been  treated with pesticides or anti-growth
     hormones  recently.  (Many  lawn  fertilizers  also  contain
     weed-control hormones).
     You can substitute a commercial salad dressing for the  oil,
     vinegar, pepper, and dill.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 5 minutes.  Precision: no  need  to
     measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Brian Reid
     DEC Western Research Lab, Palo Alto CA
     reid@decwrl.DEC.COM -or- {decvax,ihnp4,ucbvax,sun}!decwrl!reid