Prepper friends
Now's the prime season for dandilion salads, they're at their best in early spring and quickly begin to get bitter as the season progresses. You will notice as you look around more closely, that there's different kinds of dandilions. While they're all edible, some are better. The ones that make the best salad are the narrower leaved ones which tend to have a greater number of leaves radiating out from the center than the broader leaved plants.
Early in the spring they are just pushing their way up and you will spot the choicest ones by noting the tender white stems near the center where the chlorophyll has not yet developed. While you will see this on many dandilions, as you observe more plants closely, you will begin to notice that it's more pronounced on some than on other plants which may have sprung up earlier, or higher in the soil where the centers will be exposed more quickly to sunlight and thus develop chlorophyll and bitter compounds more quickly. If you're not sure what I mean, start observing and you'll begin to see differences.
I often score a big juicy prime dandilion by poking through a mass of dead tops from last year to find the new tender leaves of spring partially hidden underneath. I bisect the plant where the root meets the top, leaving the cluster in one piece like a beautiful trophy. Repeat the process til a bag or 3 are full, and off to home where the laborious work of cleaning them begins. A REAL CONNOSIEUR WILL NOT CUT ALL THE LEAVES APART, BUT LEAVE THE CLUSTERS INTACT HOWEVER THIS POSES A PROBLEM FOR CLEANING AS SAND LIKES TO STAY TRAPPED IN THE RECESSES OF THE CENTERS. Use your ingenuity and perseverence to clean the sand thouroughly.
When you have a beautiful bowl of 'lions, take some extra light tasting olive oil or other palatable oil and give it a nice glug, glug from the bottle tipped half way. (Now I said from a bottle tipped half way NOT half a bottle!!) Then take your vinegar and measure a capful, then shoot it on top, then add another half cap of vinegar for good measure. Chop half a clove of garlic or more, add some salt and pepper and a hard boiled egg or two chopped into substantial sized pieces. Give it a good mix, taste and if it's too vinegarry, add some more oil, if it's too oily, add some more vinegar, until it's perfecto! Then cast aside all self consciousness and have a feast. It ain't authentically Italian if you don't end up with greasy cheeks from the curly leaves which will wrap around your mouth much the same way as when you slurp up long spaghetti.
Hope you like it, dandilions are rich in iron and a real healthy treat. I know there's recipes in which you can use the later ones which are more bitter, but I've never mastered any of them.
I have been putting the buds, before they flower in everything from omelets, stir fries, pasta, green smoothies.
I was just watching this YouTube clip today about dandelion salad, we are now heading into winter here so I will have to wait 😀
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51VhG8MKxJY
I eat a lot of dandilions, I use the green in cooking a lot, the flower as well, Interesting salad dressing choice, would have trouble, getting dh to do that one, he is creamy based salad kinda guy..but I will give it a try
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
Thanks martha - that was very well written!! yum yum!
(`'•.¸(`'•.¸ ¸.•'´) ¸.•'´)
*´¨`•.¸¸Anita <>< *.•´¸¸¨`*
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Quack, Cluck, Moo, Hee-Haw, Meow and Baaaaaaa from Shalom Engedi Farm
http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.com/
Thanks for that video link, Cares. Clara knows what she's doing. Olive oil & lemon juice (or vinegar), and some salt. I like garlic too. I use a really mild olive oil, I have to buy the extra light tasting stuff. Clara has cut her leaves apart - no doubt because they are easier to clean that way, but I like em together. I do eat the flower buds along with the leaves as long as they're creamy white and tender they are really good. As soon as they get beyond that stage they're too bitter.
I'd like to know more about how you eat your dandilions there Farmgal.
Ooooo....came across this blog about things to do with dandelions 😀
http://wildcraftvita.blogspot.it/2013/01/things-to-do-with-dandelions.html
really enjoyed that Cares. Need more hours in the day to try these ideas.
Aside from eating D lions as a salad, we use to cook it like spinach, with butter and a bit of vinegar.
"We 'Prep.' to live after a downfall, Not just to survive."
Hi Martha
Well, the first thing I would say is that we eat it as a bitter green, I like spring greens but I eat them thoughtout the whole season, I use them more as a cooked green then I do a raw green and if its a dark bitter, I just blanch them and go from there.. I like Ranger cook them often like spinach..
Just a few other things I do with them or the flowers ( I use the flowers to make a syrup, I use the flowers in batters and into salads and soups) but one of my favorite ways is to mix it with raw local honey..
Here is a awesome recipe, DH brought it home with him from the Yukon and he got the cookbook that had a version of the recipe in it, Credit to the person who made the recipe is given..
This recipe is credited to the late Rose Barlow..
Dandelion Mustard
1 cup of yelow mustard seeds whole
1 and 1/4th cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup of Dandelion syrip or birch syrup or dark grade b maple syrup
1 cup of fresh cleaned dandelion greens pureed, if you don’t have enough dandlion, you can use chickweed or lambs quarters
1/2 cup of Dandelion petals, (make sure to remove the bitter green parts)
4 cloves of galic, finely chopped.. Pinch of sea salt.
Soak the mustard seeds in the apple cider vinager for several hours, then blend with the rest of the ingredents till as smooth as you would like it. Makes about two cups, to keep it for longer in the fridge, its recommended to pour a little olive oil on top to keep it fresh and moist.
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
Which brings up the last subject, Dandelion Wine. using the first yellow buds. This light wine can be served with most wild edible. While I'm on the subject of wild potables, don't forget Birch beer and sassafras tea.
"We 'Prep.' to live after a downfall, Not just to survive."
Just came across a free ebook with heaps of things to do with dandelion....oh come on spring, I don't want to wait for winter to pass 🙄
http://thenerdyfarmwife.com/things-to-do-with-dandelions/
Thanks Cares - that's a fab resource 🙂 I could send you some - my kids are flying out to Australia next week and I have plenty to share!!!
(`'•.¸(`'•.¸ ¸.•'´) ¸.•'´)
*´¨`•.¸¸Anita <>< *.•´¸¸¨`*
(¸.•'´(¸.•'´ `'•.¸)`' •.¸)
¸.•´
( `•.¸
`•.¸ )
¸.•)´
(.•´
Quack, Cluck, Moo, Hee-Haw, Meow and Baaaaaaa from Shalom Engedi Farm
http://adventures-in-country-living.blogspot.com/
I have this one and quite like it..
http://www.amazon.ca/The-Wonderful-World-Dandelions-ebook/dp/B00BAHQCLS
http://livingmydreamlifeonthefarm.wordpress.com/
Nice looking mustard, Farmgal!
And great ideas Cares!
I've been eating several dandilion salads the past few days and wishing I'd have got to them a tad earlier. Then today a friend suggested that you could always put a covering on them to extend the early stages when they're less bitter and good raw in salad. For those of you who might be horrified at the thought of depriving a plant of sunshine & chloropyll production, you could cover them at least part of the day to buy a little time. I'm attached to my dandilion salads as they are part of my heritage you might say.