It's edible weed question time again!

[Guest guest]

I don't kow if the flowers are edible but they are great for making dandilion

wine!

 

The Dragon (aka High Priestess Enchanting Even weave)

[Guest guest]

I am on a wild food group and dandelion heads are often picked, dipped in batter

and fried. There are other ways to enjoy them, but so far I haven't eaten them.

I have made dandelion root coffee and I did like that.

~Tee

-

L.B.

Sunday, May 03, 2009 5:14 PM

It's edible weed question time again!

 

 

 

 

 

I know this maybe sounds weird, but I am curious and I gotta ask about it!

 

It's edible weed question time again!

[Guest guest]

Hi, All!

 

   I've answered my own question!  Yesterday, after posing the question about

dandelion blossom heads being edible (or not), I looked at a couple of websites

and figured, " why not try it? "   (The websites I looked at said " leaves, blossoms

and roots are edible... " )

 

    So, on the advice of one of the sites, I decided to try for the milder

element: the un-opened flower BUDS of the dandelions.  Good thing. I discovered

my " crop " of dandelion weeds had run rampant in the front of my house out on the

rock-covered area that is slowly becoming a " rock garden " , instead of a tidy,

un-planted rock-over-plastic swath around the foundation of our house. 

 

   I pulled many deep and thick dandelion plants by hand for over an hour out

there, with badly stained hands and fingers to show for it.  I also collected a

small, but significant 1/3 cup-full or so of the round or oval un-opened flower

heads, plus a few of the yellow open blooming flowers as well.  (I wanted to try

both.)

 

    I took the flower buds inside after bagging up the huge amount of pulled

weed debris and

soaked them briefly in salt water.  (Mom taught me to do this to broccoli and

other  vegetables that might harbor " bugs " .)  I rinsed them and then added them

to a stir-fry sort-of skillet I concocted of left-over stuff from my fridge:  a

match-stick cut carrot, a half-jar of

bamboo shoots, some sliced almonds (almost the end of the bag--not much left but

crumbs), some getting-old-fast baby bella mushrooms, and a handful of

still-fresh bagged baby spinach, chopped up.

 

    I also put in some chopped onion, a few fresh chive-flower buds, some minced

garlic, some fresh ginger and a dash of cloves, pepper and seasoned salt.  Oh,

yeah, and a splash of soy sauce.  I sauteed it until the stuff was not too mushy

but still nice and colorful, and put it over some left-over brown rice.

 

   The dandelion flower-heads and flower buds are mild-tasting...they remind me

of a combination of spinach, asparagus tips and mustard greens--just a little

" bitey " , but more mild by far than the dandelion leaf greens my grandmother used

to serve.  I like them.  The flower BUDS are harder to get and it takes a lot of

them to make even a half-cup full, but they are tasty and (so it says in the

literature I've read so far) they are nutritious and safe to eat, as long as

they've not been sprayed, etc.

 

There ya have it!  I thought I'd share with the group what I'd discovered!  The

next time I go for weed-pulling or " gathering " , I think I'll wear disposable

gloves and maybe save my hands from getting so stained up--UGH!

 

Peace and blessings!

--Laura B., in Illinois

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Laura!

 

Sounds like you had quite an adventure! Your idea of a stirfry sounds great. I

have to admit that the only time I use dandelions in cooking is to put the

greens in with my kale.

 

I love the idea of using the flowers and as soon as the rain stops I am going to

go out and harvest some flowers to cook up and batter fry. Thanks for your

question and for sharing your experiences, it has gotten my creative juices

flowing!

 

Ande