Organic Recipe Friday: Fried Dandelion Blossoms
This recipe comes to BambiGoesGreen via @Brian_STEY from his site Save The Earth Ya’ll. The recipe itself can be found inRobert K. Henderson’s book “The Neighborhood Forager.”
I haven’t tried these yet myself, but I’m making plans as we speak to make up a batch of these tonight! I’m terrified… and curious!
The following excerpt from @Brian_STEY’s site was too funny not to quote directly and far too informative to leave out:
Please step away from the pump-action trigger on that bottle of weed killer. Hey, what are you doing with a bottle of toxic weed killer anyway? Don’t you know that stuff does more harm than good? Instead of looking at those dandelions as noxious weeds that must be poisoned, pulled, or otherwise decimated, experience a paradigm shift and appreciate the dandelion for the delicious, medicinal puffs of sunshine they really are. Yes, you read that correctly—Delicious!
Up until very recently, dandelions sat on a pedestal. Instead of being dead-set on their annihilation (like most of us are today), people actually cultivated them for food, medicine, beverage ingredients and dietary supplements.
Luckily all those things that made dandelions so great in the past still exist today, and there is a movement sweeping the globe once again touting dandelions for their beneficial qualities. Dandelions are chockfull with vitamins, potassium, minerals and antioxidants. In fact, they are one of the most nutrient-rich greens you can eat. Much better than anything you’d find in the supermarket today. They also have many medicinal qualities and have been used as a blood detoxifier (great for the liver) and for treating digestive disorders, arthritis and eczema.
So what part of the dandelion is edible? The entire plant… roots, stems, leaves and blossoms (not sure I’d eat the puffy white seed heads after they flower, though). The best time for harvesting dandelions greens for eating is in the early spring before the plants begin to flower. After the plant flowers it gets bitter, but a simple blanching will take care of that. The leaves have a great spicy taste kind of like arugula and can be eaten as a salad or put on sandwiches instead of lettuce. They can also be sautéed or steamed like any other green.
The blossoms are best harvested in the morning just as they open. They, too, are great on salads, but being southern, we love them FRIED! You can also make a great wine out of the blossoms. Some people say it is like sippin’ sunshine!
Please note: DO NOT eat dandelions that come from chemically treated yards, or ones that are growing close to the road.
