Horta

Horta, a catch-all word for a plethora of greens enjoyed in Greece, most commonly boiled till tender and served with olive oil and lemon juice. I prefer my horta bitter so my go-to is the ‘Italiki’ variety, which we can luckily find here in the states as red dandelion greens. My, how times have changed... anyone growing up Greek in the US 20+ years ago knows that what other people saw as weeds, our parents saw as food. I don’t think my aunt, who lived with us back in the 80s for nine years before moving back to Athens, could ever have believed dandelion greens would be sold in American supermarkets some 30 years later!
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Today I made green dandelion greens, because that’s all they had. I don’t like them as much—they’re not quite as bitter (or flavorful) as the red, but still delicious! If you don’t like bitter, look for amaranth greens at Asian markets—this is what is called ‘vlita’ in Greece.

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#RECIPE:
1 bunch dandelion greens per person
Salt
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Wash your greens throughly in a big mixing bowl, draining and refilling the bowl with water two times. Place greens in boiling water with some salt. Bring back to a boil, then boil gently for about 10 minutes, until tender. Remove from heat. Once cool, serve dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and some of the cooking liquid. Bread is a must for soaking up all that wonderful juice in the bowl, but if you run out of bread just go ahead and drink it!