Does anyone eat dandylions? page

[Mud Flinger]

I have lots of dandylions growing in my organic yard and since the fox ate my chickens who loved them, I'm thinking about "gathering" them for myself if I can find a good way to eat them! Any ideas?

[Nettle]

I eat them.

If they're young leaves, new growth, then they're just like a salad green that's on the bitter side. Very nutritious too. I'm waiting patiently for the first ones to pop up. Should be a couple of weeks here. I usually just mix them in with other salad greens.

When the leaves grow bigger they can get quite bitter and tough. I usually only eat the young leaves but have used older ones cooked in soups. Like you would spinach or chard.

You can also just sautee young or older leaves(depending on your like of bitter) in butter.

All parts of the plant are edible though I find the stems quite bitter. Probably would be okay in some sort of soup or stew though. The flowers can be made into wine though I haven't done that. I have made jelly out of them but that uses tons of sugar. You can also just use the petals to liven up salads with some color. The roots can be dug up and dried and brewed like a tea.

Other 'weeds' I regularly eat are plantains and chickweed. Chickweed is delicious just raw. Plantain is good in soups and sauteed. I also eat nettles, burdock roots, chicory and red clover flowers. Clover flowers are like a delicacy to me. If you get them at the peak of flowering they're crunchy with slight sweetness. You can also dry them and use them for a tea.

[breadsauce]

Yes, they make wonderful salad leaves, and if you cook lardons then pour the lardons and bacon fat over the leaves so they wilt slightly, they make a classic salad!

[Grizz]

Here are some recipes for you.
Dandelion Recipes
Dandelion recipes | prodigalgardens.info

There is MUCH MORE



Do a google for Dandelion Recipes

Grizz

[goodangels]

Yes, I eat them. If they are young I don't have to parboil, but if older I cook the whole plant by parboiling for 2 minutes which takes out a lot of the bitterness. Then I drain and rinse with cool water. Then sautee with bacon fat, garlic, spinach and dried chipotle chili peppers. Fantastic and very nutritious.

[Nettle]

Here's a nutrition break down. Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Dandelion greens, raw

They're a great source of minerals and especially calcium. This is due to how they grow. They have a very long tap root which reaches down into the subsoil and pull up the goodies. Ecologically wise they're a good indicator plant for the health of the soil and tend to be one of the first species that comes into soil that's been disturbed and is very nutrient poor since they can access what they need. Over time they help to rebuild the soil as there actions bring up nutrients to the surface for other plants to use. This is why they are really common in disturbed ground and flourish in spaces like old building lots.

An interesting bit of trivia. They're not indigenous to North America. They were brought here on purpose by colonists for food and medicine and very quickly spread out of their gardens to become the 'weed' that so many people hate now. It's just a matter of perspective though. In France where a couple of varieties are grown as gourmet greens farmers grow them in big fields and have to work to keep the 'weeds' out like any other crop. That cracks me up for some reason.

[NorthernMonkeyGirl]

They're nice but don't eat too many - ye olde English name is "piss-a-bed".....

[Digby]

I love their sharp taste. I fry some bacon, pour the hot dripping over the dandelion, then toss in the bacon; and a goodly twist of sea salt.

[gojirama]

We eat the young leaves in salad.If my daughter or I have a UTI threatening I make a tea of the leaves and roots.
I always like to say that come the zombie apocolypse, we'll have to fight off the "True-Greeners" trying to get our lovely organic dandelions!

[cindysue]

I throw them in my vitamix with beets and frozen mango and make a super detox smoothie.
p.s. I use dandelion "greens" (perhaps that's different?)