Hairy Bittercress, Dandelion & Papaya Salad

A wonderfully sensual dish combining the exquisite sweetness of Papaya with the pepperiness of Hairy Bittercress and the gentle flavour of mild Dandelion greens.

I picked up some out of date Papayas the other day. Out of date in the sense, they were still green and I had to ripen them up to their golden pinky-orange. I scoffed one of them, and as the delicate scent overloaded my olfactory system, I realised that Hairy Bittercress would go perfect with Papaya.

So off I traipsed to the woods and harvested the Hairy Bittercress, then on my way home nibbled on Dandelions, only harvesting the ones with a mild flavour and that hadn’t yet developed too much bitterness.

All in all, a pretty fine recipe. Quick, simple and just what my body needs this time of the year (Spring).

Hairy Bittercress Recipe Ingredients

  • 2 ripe Papayas
  • 2 large handfuls of Hairy Bittercress
  • 2 large handfuls of Dandelion greens
  • Olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar

Hairy Bittercress Recipe Instructions

  1. Spoon out the Papaya into a bowl, making sure to remove the seeds first!
  2. Chop the Hairy Bittercress and Dandelion greens and add to the bowl.
  3. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and a glug of olive oil.
  4. Toss and enjoy.

Serves: 2

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  1. Now that sounds lovely!
    we’ve just ‘found’ hairy bittercress, and we cultivate some wild caught dandelions (from a friends house that was only too glad for me to ‘weed’ her garden) that have un-sharp serrations to the leaves and are beautifully mild and large. we also dry and powder dandelions to use all year in soups and stews and also to sprinkle akimbo on salads.
    Now where did i see those papayas.

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