Dandelion Greens & Chive “Creamy” Soup

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Spring is starting to peak its head out as daffodils, witch hazel, birds chirping in the early morning and….dandelions and chives. I found some of these guys popping up as my family and I began to prepare our garden the other day. The chives were growing like wild and the dandelion greens are spread all throughout our yard. This was my first time harvesting any “wildly” (if you consider our untamed backyard wild) grown foods and using them to cook. What I came up with was delicious and I am excited to share it! I found a recipe that was a simpler, non-vegan version of this. So I switched it up and added a few other ingredients and came up with this creamy and satisfying soup. It rained the next day so I enjoyed it, tucked cozy in a blanket on the couch reading Women Who Run with the Wolves on my Kindle.

Here’s What You’ll Need…

  • 3 cups dandelion greens
  • 3 cups chives
  • 1 tbs olive oil
  • 1 cup cashews, soaked for 2 hours, drained
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened nut milk (+ more if needed, I used almond)
  • 2 cups of water
  • 1 tbs dijon mustard
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • juice from 1/2 a lemon
  • 1 tbs nutritional yeast
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • pinch of cayenne (optional)

 

Instructions:

  1. 1. Wash and dry chives and greens. In a pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the greens and chives and sautée for about 5 minutes. Lower the heat and add 1/2 cup of water. Cover the pot and let simmer for 10 minutes.
  2. 2. While the greens are simmering, add the soaked cashews and nut milk to a blend and blend for one minute until they create a creamy like sauce. Add a little more milk if needed. This should be a little thicker than an Alfredo-like sauce. Heat this in another pot over low-medium heat.
  3. 3. Add the rest of the water to the pot with the greens and simmer for another 10 minutes, covered.
  4. 4. Once the greens are done simmering add them, with the water, to the blender. Add the dijon mustard, garlic, lemon juice and nutritional yeast. Blend for one minute. Add this to the pot with the cashew sauce and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serving hot or chilled, adding cayenne to garnish.