In this time of the year, chicory (or hindba as it’s known in Arabic) is always available in Lebanon. Chicory is well known for the wealth of minerals and nutrients that it contains, just like spinach. Today I prepared it in the old-fashioned Lebanese way. It is very popular during lent because it is cooked without any meat or fat. I hope you will like it.
Ingredients:
- 1 kilo of chicory
- 1 onion finely diced
- 3 garlic clove crushed
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt, seven spices
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 large onions chopped into long strips
- frying oil
Preparation:
- Cut the chicory in small pieces and wash thoroughly
- Boil in salted water until the chicory is nearly, but not fully, cooked. It should feel softer than before, but not limp. Drain the water
- Heat the olive oil and fry the finely diced onion until softened then add the crushed garlic
- Place the chicory over the onion, mix all the ingredients and season with salt and seven spices
- Put the fire on its lowest setting, cover the pot and let it boil gently until the chicory is fully cooked. Now it should feel super soft
- Add lemon juice
- Place the chicory in a serving plate
- Fry the long onion strips until brown and put it on the top of chicory plate for decoration and taste
ET VOILA.. C’EST TOUT:)
Tabkhet el yom 
actually hindbeh is dandelion greens in english
Thank you for the information 🙂
Actually hindbeh is chicory, not dandelion. I use ‘cichoria selvatiche’ which means ‘wild chicory’ which looks like a dandelion leaf with serrated leaves. You can make it with dandelion, of course, but it’s not the same vegetable. You can also use all the various Italian variations of chicory such as radicchio, variegate del Castelfranco, rossa de Treviso or even various endives – they all are bred from the original wild chicory. Dandelion can’t be bred for so many varieties as it is female only, doesn’t pollinate with males, so is always true to the maternal line, a real feminist vegetable!