For a couple years I have ate dandelion greens but in the raw form and I found them to be very bitter and since I am not fond of bitter I decided to try them cooked for a change.
One lady told me about cooking them one way, another man another way and yet someone else said to cook them with turnip greens.
This is me trying out how I like to eat this bitter weed best.
First I went out and I dug up the whole dandelion plant because I am keeping the root for medicine, I will be harvesting the dandelion plants with roots all through the year, and I placed the plants into water.
A couple days did pass before I could actually clean and disassemble the dandelion plants but they were still living well in the shallow pan with water. I clipped the leaves off and set those aside and I cleaned the roots and put those on a wire rack to air dry.
I placed the dandelion leaves into a sink filled with cold water and soaked them, so the dirt would release. I rinsed them several times to make sure the dirt was off the leaves. I put them into a bowl of cold water and sat then into the refrigerator over night because I was cooking these the next day.
Now the cooking part :
I drained and patted dry the dandelion leaves.
I took the advice of the man and I cooked them in butter, this does NOT take but a couple of minutes, like most greens.
I tasted and added salt to my taste.
The Taste :
The texture was that of fresh cooked spinach, sweet first and at the end a slight bitterness.
Next!
I added how the woman told me to cook them, add lemon. So I added a small amount of lemon juice and stir the dandelion greens.
The Taste :
At first sweet, then tart but I still could detect the bitter and that was just to much for me.
Now to MY addition to these wild little greens.
I have the dandelion greens cooked in butter, with a dash of salt and lemon juice and drizzle of Agave nectar.
The Taste :
Now we are talking!
Cook the dandelion greens in butter for a couple minutes, turning to cook them evenly. Add salt to your taste, give then a squeeze of lemon and drizzle with agave nectar.
Fabulous dandelion greens! Plus they grow wild everywhere so they are free.
Do you eat what grows wild in your yard?
You might also like : Getting back to nature
By Andria Perry
Photos By Andria Perry
I like them fried in butter with salt, but I forgot to tell you that I prefer the plants that have no blooms. Once they start blooming, the bitterness increases. :) Dandelion root 'coffee' is good, though. Clean and dry the root, then grind it. It can be used with coffee, 50-50 mixture, or it can be used in place of coffee. In place of coffee, it is actually tea, though.
ReplyDeleteSee tell me half the story, My tongue was not happy till the end :)
DeleteI made jelly last year with dandelions. This year we have snow right now.
ReplyDeleteYes I remember that, I have not collected enough flowers to make jelly, yet. But I had enough greens for a single serving.
DeleteI have not tried eating dandelion but I am going to try this when I find this in the supermarket. I heard that it is healthy. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you'll ever find dandelions in the supermarket, Thelma. This is something you'd collect yourself because throughout most of the world, it's considered a weed.
DeleteThey are sold here at Publix grocery store and I would assume whole foods would have them too.
DeleteThat is astonishing. I've never seen them in a store in Oregon, Montana, Washington, California, Nevada, Idaho, or Arizona. It must be an eastern US thing.
DeleteI seen them last year at Publix in Oxford,Alabama
DeleteIf you blanche them Angie and then put in iced water it gets rid of a lot of the bitterness. Also nutmeg on the cooked greens is lovely :)
ReplyDelete