Very young cicoria, (dandelion greens that have not flowered yet)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Garlic cloves, smashed and chopped [If one does not like garlic one can use lemon juice instead]

o To pick dandelions you have to be able to distinguish which vegetation growing wild in the woods or in one's own backyard (Yes the dandelions that grow in one's backyard are edible!) are dandelions and which are not. This is quite easy to do as dandelions have a characteristic shaped leaf. P.S. If one digs out dandelions in the wild one must be completely sure that area has not been sprayed with pesticides. The dandelions are not poisonous, but the pesticides sure are.

o To make a salad out of dandelions one has to pick only those very young dandelions that have not yet flowered (no flowers in evidence, though the occasional small stem is O.K.). One only gets this type of dandelion in the early spring (In Montreal, Canada they are generally available only at the end of April, and in early May).

o Cut off the roots, flower stems, grass and any other type of vegetation that might be attached to the dandelions.

o Separate the leaves, one by one, again making sure there are no flower stems, grass or any other types of vegetation still attached to the dandelions (Do this prior to washing the dandelions, as everything is more visible at this time).

o Wash the dandelion leaves under running water over and over -- 4 or 5 times.

o Soak the dandelion leaves for 10 minutes or so.

o Re-wash the dandelion leaves.

o When one is completely sure the dandelion leaves are clean, drain well. Remove any excess water.

o Place the dandelion leaves (or as they are now called -- dandelion greens) in a bowl.

o Toss with extra virgin oil.

o Add garlic.

o Serve immediately alone, or mixed with other salad greens.

Many people find a salad made with young dandelion greens too bitter, but Gemma Forliano loves it. For those who don't mind bitter-tasting food this is for them. For those who only like a bit of bitter in their salads, then they can add a few dandelion greens into their regular mixed salad.... Please note that one can only make a fresh dandelion salad in the early spring. Later in the season the dandelions -- even those that have flowered! -- are still edible, but they have to be cooked.... The photo was taken by Mary Melfi who herself recalls that a number of her relatives who immigrated from Casacalenda, Molise to Montreal picked cicoria growing wild in the fields and made salads with it. Nowadays, most Italian-Canadians prefer to buy cultivated cicoria at their local grocery shops rather than dig out the vegetation in the wild. Many Italians buy chicory thinking it is "cicoria," but this is not so. Technically, the word, "cicoria" (sometimes spelled as chicoria in Molisani dialect) is in fact translated in English as "chicory." However, what Southern Italians dug out in the fields in their home country in the 1930s and what they dug out in the fields in their adopted country in the early 1960s is not "chicory" but dandelion greens. Now the actual word for dandelion in Italian is "dente di leone" but no one that immigrated from Italy to North America ever referred to what they dug out in the wild as "dente di leone." They called it "cicoria" and so nowadays everyone assumes "cicoria" and "chicory" to be one and the same. Chicory and cicoria are part of the same family, and are very similar, both in taste and in looks, but they are not the same plant. Nonetheless, for those who do not want to dig out their own cicoria, store-bought chicory is a good substitute for wild dandelions.

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