Wow, what a cold snap we had here in early January! OK, it was cold for the SW of France, which, of course, is not the same thing as cold for a lot of people. But we had a long stretch of nights in the 20’s and days not getting above 40. The peaks of the western Pyrenees are whiter with snow than I have seen them in a number of years. All this is for the best, of course; warm winters means more mosquitoes in summer, plants that cant quite figure out what season they are supposed to be in, closed ski slopes and water shortages. So I am not complaining.
All that is to say, we had a cold snap that hit a lot of the plants in our yard pretty hard. Our calla lilies, for example, which had stayed green into early winter, pretty much lay down and gave up the ghost. Weeds, it seems, are made of sterner stuff. As I discovered when, after the freeze, I began to notice young dandelion and wild watercress leaves all over the yard. Great news for tasty salads and for winter vitamins.
One of the attractions of these bitter greens is that they add a lively punch of flavor to otherwise pretty tame hothouse-grown winter lettuces. That having been said, their bitterness demands to be taken into account when planning your salad. Two options: # 1 pair them with slightly sweet elements (don’t overdo it!) like winter pears, apples or pomegranate seeds to offset the bitterness, or add a bit of sweetness to your vinaigrette with a spoonful of honey or reduced apple cider. Or #2 pair with strong flavors that stand up to the bitterness, like bleu cheese, bacon or citrus.
Note also that most winter greens, including endives, watercress and dandelion greens, are a bit toothier than other lettuces, so will stand up to a warm element without wilting. For example, toss dandelion greens with warm lentils or a warm bacon vinaigrette. Yum!