First Weed Walk of the Season

I spent the night at my parent's house. When I woke up this morning, I realized that not only is it a beautiful day, but that the lawn is filled with early spring greens. My dad is an organic gardener so I can browse the lawn at will.

We walked through the lawn together and he told me stories about my great grandmother. She came from Greece and would always eat the dandelion leaves. She made tea out of the flowers, at the leaves, and roasted the roots for dandelion coffee. The art skipped two generations before it got to me, it seems.

In the end, I picked enough greens to make a salad. I also picked some cleavers for my dad to dry and make a tea out of. Here are the greens that I included in my salad:

• dandelion
• chicory
• mullein
• yarrow
• clover
• cleavers

I seasoned it with a lemon vinaigrette and topped it with goat cheese. I had artichoke hearts and Greek Easter rolls on the side.