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Kaila Krayewski's avatar

Love this recipe and would love to try it! What could I substitute the bacon for as a vegetarian?

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Keith Christiansen's avatar

I love variations like this.

you could use a veggie bacon, but I don't really like using those myself and making something veggie isn't a perfect swap.

I might try halloumi, which would do the salt thing really well. Or mushrooms (with a bit of smoked paprika, maybe) or toasted walnuts, which would give it more earthiness. Tempeh might work well too and it could work well with the vinaigrette.

I'd add just a little more oil or butter, whatever fat you use, to the pan for the vinaigrette. About 1 tbsp, I'd say.

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Kaila Krayewski's avatar

Ooooo yes those are all fabulous suggestions! Halloumi, toasted walnuts, and extra butter sounds awesome! Thanks for the workaround.

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Sue C's avatar

I have halloumi too. Maybe I’ll skip the eggs and bash that it with the bacon. 😋

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Jeffrey Gibbs's avatar

Love this though I hesitate to touch anything growing in Istanbul, sprays and cats and pollution everywhere. We also have sow thistles, an almost lookalike, also edible

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Keith Christiansen's avatar

Cities can be tough for that. We have simply never had a shortage of these. And sow thistles are real survivors as well. I knew one person that raised them purposefully in sandy soil to get the roots easily. It seems some French folks do that as well, accidentally or on purpose.

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Emmanuel's avatar

I'm definitely going to try the dandelion buds as capers and you made me see this plant a different way (I, too, fight them hard 😅)

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Keith Christiansen's avatar

I think they're from Europe, originally, so you might be pulling up the native plants so that your invasive grass lawn can thrive!

They were brought to North America (should I start calling it North Mexico?) by European settlers - it was seen as a good food and a medicinal plant. Tastes change? Those capers are great.

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Sue C's avatar

The bees love the pissenlits too. I always leave them for the bees but should start picking the leaves. Free food! I have gathered a load of sorrel seeds and nasturtiums. Another thing I don't eat much of, but should do. Now I want a warm salad.

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Keith Christiansen's avatar

I like them in all forms, especially when spring came later in New York and there was less green but those were always some of the first plants out. Making dandelion vinegar is also really nice - I just liked it for the color and on salads, but some folks say it's got all kind of nice medicinal properties: https://freshbitesdaily.com/dandelion-vinegar/

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