Hindbeh
A Lebanese spring dish, served as mezze at room temperature. It is young dandelion leaves briefly blanched, sautéed with garlic and onion in olive oil and dressed with lemon, topped with a pile of deeply browned onion, crisp at the edges. Bitter leaves, sweet onion and sour lemon balance each other well. Hindbeh is Arabic for chicory — in Lebanon the leaves of wild chicory are used, or dandelion, which has a similar bitterness. Dandelion is gathered in spring, before it flowers, when the leaves are most tender. Out of season, endive works.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Caramelising the onion 25 min
- Blanching the leaves 10 min
- Squeezing and chopping 10 min
- Sautéing with garlic 5 min
- Cooling 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneCaramelise the onion
Slice the onions into thin half-moons. Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the onion over medium heat 20–25 minutes, stirring often, until deep brown and crisp at the edges. Watch it towards the end — burnt onion turns bitter. Lift half out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper — that is the topping; it firms up further as it cools.
Ingredients: 600 g young dandelion leaves (or endive) · 3 pcs onions · 6 tbsp olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs lemon (juice and wedges to serve) · 1 tsp salt (plus for the water) · 4 pcs pitta breads to serve (optional)
Deep brown but not burnt — be patient.Clean the leaves
Wash the dandelion leaves in several changes of water and trim the tough stalk ends.
Ingredients: 600 g young dandelion leaves (or endive) · 3 pcs onions · 6 tbsp olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs lemon (juice and wedges to serve) · 1 tsp salt (plus for the water) · 4 pcs pitta breads to serve (optional)
Blanch the leaves
Bring salted water to the boil and blanch the leaves 3–4 minutes until soft. Blanching tames the dandelion's bitterness. Rinse under cold water.
Ingredients: 600 g young dandelion leaves (or endive) · 3 pcs onions · 6 tbsp olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs lemon (juice and wedges to serve) · 1 tsp salt (plus for the water) · 4 pcs pitta breads to serve (optional)
Squeeze and chop
Squeeze the leaves as hard as you can by hand and chop them roughly.
Ingredients: 600 g young dandelion leaves (or endive) · 3 pcs onions · 6 tbsp olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs lemon (juice and wedges to serve) · 1 tsp salt (plus for the water) · 4 pcs pitta breads to serve (optional)
Squeezed hard — no water in the salad.Sauté with garlic
Add a spoonful of olive oil and the chopped garlic to the pan with the remaining onion, fry a minute, then add the leaves and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Season with salt.
Ingredients: 600 g young dandelion leaves (or endive) · 3 pcs onions · 6 tbsp olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs lemon (juice and wedges to serve) · 1 tsp salt (plus for the water) · 4 pcs pitta breads to serve (optional)
Garlic and onion — the leaves take their flavour.Add lemon
Take off the heat and sprinkle with the juice of half the lemon. Taste — it should be slightly bitter, sweetish from the onion and tangy.
Ingredients: 600 g young dandelion leaves (or endive) · 3 pcs onions · 6 tbsp olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs lemon (juice and wedges to serve) · 1 tsp salt (plus for the water) · 4 pcs pitta breads to serve (optional)
Cool
Transfer to a plate and cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 600 g young dandelion leaves (or endive) · 3 pcs onions · 6 tbsp olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs lemon (juice and wedges to serve) · 1 tsp salt (plus for the water) · 4 pcs pitta breads to serve (optional)
Serve with crisp onion
Before serving, top with the crisp onion, drizzle with the last tablespoon of olive oil and serve with lemon wedges and, if you like, pitta bread.
Ingredients: 600 g young dandelion leaves (or endive) · 3 pcs onions · 6 tbsp olive oil · 2 cloves garlic · 1 pcs lemon (juice and wedges to serve) · 1 tsp salt (plus for the water) · 4 pcs pitta breads to serve (optional)
Before you start
Foraging dandelion
Pick dandelion away from roads, sprayed fields and lawns and places where dogs are walked, ideally before it flowers. Older leaves are very bitter — choose young ones from the centre of the rosette.
With endive or chicory
Out of season use endive (escarole), sold in larger supermarkets. It is milder than dandelion and about 2 minutes' blanching is enough. If you find Italian leaf chicory (cicoria, catalogna), blanch it like dandelion.
Storage
Keep the salad without the topping in the fridge up to 2 days. Add the crisp onion just before serving so it stays crunchy.
