Sauteed Dandelion Greens with Cabbage and Onion

Even though I grew up in the North, we ate Southern food. I grew up eating fried cabbage with bacon grease, salt, and pepper.  But as I grew older and didn't have a regular supply of bacon grease on hand, I searched for alternate healthier options to cook my favorite greens. 

A month or so ago a friend and I went to Dearborn, Michigan for the weekend.  While there I tried some Mediterranean food.  Dandelion greens were in the showcase for purchase. When we got back to the hotel I took my first bite.  They were delicious and surprisingly not bitter. I need to learn how to cook these greens!

When I got back home I tried to cook them and failed miserably. The dandelion greens were extremely bitter. Surely there is a secret? I asked a friend what her mother would do to eliminate some of the bitterness. I've had this dish three times in the last two weeks. I am going to share with you what I discovered.

I used  Victoria Taylor's Moroccan spice blend.  I use this in a lot of dishes, especially on baked chicken and vegetables or in fried coucous salad. But you can use whatever spices you prefer on your greens.  

Ingredients:

1\2 head of cabbage, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 TSP Victoria Moroccan Spice Blend or to taste, I am very generous with this 
salt\pepper to taste
1 Knorr bouillon chicken cube 
1\4 tsp sugar
2-3 TBS olive oil
2 TBS Ghee, clarified butter or regular, I like the taste of butter and oil together
2 bunches of dandelion greens, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Place the dandelion greens in the water and boil until tender. About 7-10 minutes. Boiling the greens helps to take out the majority of the bitterness. I usually cook two bunches at a time. Once they are done cooking drain in a colander.  Squeeze out the excess water with a spoon by pressing the greens against the side of the colander. 

On medium heat add the oil and butter to a large non stick pan.  Once the oil is hot add the onion. Saute until translucent.  Then add the cabbage.  At this point add the salt, pepper,  Moroccan spice blend ,and bouillon cube.  Cook until tender.  

Move the cabbage and onion mixture to one side of the pan and add the dandelion greens to the other. 

Sprinkle with a little salt and the sugar. Saute for about 5 minutes and then mix everything together in the pan.

Serve immediately.  I like to eat this with beans and cornbread.  If you cannot find the Moroccan Spice blend that I used then use your favorite.  There is no right way or wrong way for this recipe.  You are the chef, experiment. 

Isness

Isness. What an odd word. Upon first looking at the word it has the appearance of incompleteness. Could there be letters missing? I asked myself.  I have never heard of this word until yesterday, that is, until I watched the movie called, Third Star, with Benedict Cumberbatch and JJ Field. According to the Miriam-Webster dictionary it means the state of things as they are. 

As I researched the word a little more I discovered that Martin Luther King Jr used the word in one of his speeches:  " I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts him." 

The root is being in the "present moment". I often think about how much we are wishing our lives away waiting for the weekend. Are we experiencing isness during our work week? Our minds go beyond the here and now more frequently than we realize, especially mine.  

Sometimes, I find myself sitting and starring at the computer in a daze, forgetting completely what I was doing, thinking about life as it should be. Then I come back to reality and pound away on the keyboard some more.

But "Isness' is more than about being present, I think. It is being. Being who we are and what we are meant to be. Our essence. When God spoke to Moses from a flame out of the midst of bush and said, "I am that I am" referring to his "isness", took the whole concept to another level.  "Is" seems hard to define with words or labels.  It is neither here or there, but now, this moment, ourselves.