Ingredients:
7 hard-boiled eggs
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2-3 tablespoons finely diced smoked jalapeño*
1 bunch dandelion greens, chiffonade
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Slice eggs in half and remove the yolks. Place the yolks in a small bowl. Set aside.

Remove one egg’s worth of white. Discard or eat. Chop up the remaining egg whites. Place in a medium-sized bowl. Add the jalapeño, dandelion greens and red onion. Stir.

Place the mayonnaise and spices in the small bowl with the yolks. Mash with a fork until smooth. Pour over the chopped egg mixture. Stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

*I bought this at our local smokery but it is easy to make yourself. The next time you grill, place applewood chips in a foil packet (poke holes in it) or in a smoker box among the coals. Place the jalapeno(s) on the grill until charred and soft. Wrap in foil and allow to cool. Remove skin; it should easily peel/rub off.

My thoughts:

I keep adding dandelion greens to my produce delivery when they are available. They are a seasonal change from other dark greens and I find they do very well in salads. It seems silly to spend a couple of dollars on something that we have in our own admittedly weedy backyard but we have three dogs and well, I don’t want to eat anything they or I stepped on.

I’ve been on a bit of an egg salad kick lately (it is like deviled eggs but I can eat it for lunch and no one looks askance!) so it seemed natural to toss them in. I actually used my herb scissors to cut up the greens because they were huge and the stem and ribs were a bit thick on this batch so it was easier to just to cut them with my fancy chiffonade producing scissors than to remove the ribs and chop. Dandelion greens can veer to the bitter side but I don’t normally find them more robust than say endive or arugula. The smoky jalapeño and paprika added a slightly spicy savoriness to the eggs that the greens complemented. It made for quite a treat on a hot day.