Yes! Once! Yuck!

When we lived in Greece, I had this little produce guy that had a horse and wagon. When he came down my street, he would ring the bell at my gate and I would go out to the street to his wagon and get my produce for the week. He was always "pushing" what he thought I would like best that week, and one week it was dandoline greens.

I bought! I cooked! We tasted! We tossed!

Dawn

Thank you for providing so much useful information over the years. I am glad to have the chance to return the favor. The best receipe I have found is to saute them lightly in salted buter with garlic and onions. They taste . . . well . . . . like butter garlic and onions.

;^)

Looks like I still owe you . . . .

I've eaten dandelion greens a few times and they MUST be picked when young. It's like lettuce - once it begins to work on flowering, it's too late and it's bitter, but quite a bit more bitter than lettuce gets. They're downright nasty once they mature. But they flower so fast that there's not much of a window between appearance and flowering.

I've also been told that blanching them improves the flavor.

To me they tasted like a bitter lettuce. When young, the greens aren't so bitter you can't eat them. After they bolt, they're too bitter to eat (or at least, I found them that way - maybe there's a way to prepare them). I've had them raw in salads where they added a nice kick and I've had them boiled and treated like spinach greens. They're not a favorite food.

See, there, y'all. Everything you've said has convinced me he's lost his mind. LOL Carol, the "yuck" had me rolling on the floor! I guess I'll plant him some in one row of the veggie garden next year....but I won't plant too many because I suspect he'll be eating them alone after I take one bite.

Countymounty, you don't owe me anything. I'm glad you posted and hope you'll post more often. I'll remember your cooking method. I wonder if DH would notice if I just cooked butter, garlic and onions and left out the dandelions?

Gamebird, "they're not a favorite food".....sigh. I guess I wasn't really and truly expecting anyone would tell me that they WERE a favorite food, or we'd see them in all the gourmet grocery stores. And, that gives me an idea. Next time I'm in the D-FW metro area, I'll pop into Central Market, Whole Foods and whatever other "healthy" or "gourmet" grocery stores I can find, and see if they have a bundle of overpriced dandelion greens. Maybe if I found some and cooked them and he hated them, I won't have to plant any next year. I'd pull some from the front pasture, but they've been up a long time here....since early Feb., I think, and I doubt they are still tender since they've already set seed.

I also suspect I need to plant the seed this summer or fall for foliage next year, but I guess I'll figure that out as we go along.

Dawn

Dawn, would you like us to all save you seeds :) I'm sure we would all be happy to volunteer!

Lisa

Yes, I'm scratching my head that you would "order" seeds. There are probably 200 people on this forum who would be happy to contribute to the cause.

I've read about, but not experienced, eating them raw in salads.

Dawn, just wait till a dandelion in your yard turns into a little ball of fluff and you'll have all the seed you want.

My yard is just chock full of dandelions this year. I must've dug out a hundred or so out of the herb garden and under the grape arbor last weekend. I don't remember having this many before.

People pick the yellow flowers and make dandelion wine from them. I've had that before, but I suspect the flavor comes from all the other ingredients. I've been told that the "milk" from a dandelion can be rubbed into a wart and will cause the wart to go away, but somehow I wonder if that's the same result as rubbing two sticks together, putting them in a jar and burying it. (LOL)

You do have to gather dandelion greens while very, very young, and it is a laborious process. My great grandmother used to gather greens in the spring. They were mixed greens though. And she put lots of bacon in them.

whatever you do, don't kill one; millions will show up for the funeral!

Add me to the list of dandelion spitters. I've never cared for them but maybe there's some cooking/preparation method that could change my mind.

Regardless, I tried to get them to grow here as a just-in-case crop. Not in the garden but the yard and other places where they could live their merry little lives undisturbed until I needed to call on them. The stubborn things just will not grow here. I've tried various locations and nada. We do get the occasional oddball poking up here or there but it's only one or two every couple of years. In every state other than Oklahoma, we've had them go crazy everywhere without any effort on our part. I'm not sure if it's our clay or what.

I know I could collect seeds here, but just figured I'd start with a packet of seeds that might/might not produce better-looking (and tasting) plants than the ones I see in my pasture. The dandelions this year look horrible (not that I am complaining--they're weeds! I blame it and every else in the world on our drought. LOL I could just gather dandelions from the pastures, but I see so much wild animal scat all over the place and I'd rather not eat a plant the wildlife has urinated or pooped on.

A man once told me that his brother had pulled this huge dandelion from his yard and nailed it to the barn door. After 4 or 5 years he took it down and planted it and it grew. So think about what you are getting into by planting those nasty things.

If your husband must satisfy this "weird taste" memory of his, find a foreign food market that sells them and buy him one bunch. I think that will be all it will take to refresh his memory.

If your serious I will go over to my sisters house and pick you some seeds from some very healthy looking dandelions, I ate some leaves just the other day, taste like a wild lettuce, and the flowers arent bad either. I've heard that there is medicinal properties in dandelion flowers and roots, It is a medicinal herb. I wonder if they require cold stratification to germinate? Anyhow I will gather some if you like, from some good old wild dandelions plants. No she doesn't have a dog, or animals around the yard, lol.

My niece and her four boys age 4-12 were here today and we were walking around tasting stuff. Wild violets, overwintered endive, dandelions. Dandelions are bitter and have precious little green leaf showing when the flowers start blooming as they are here now.

I am of the opinion that our ancesters ate a lot of stuff that was only marginally edible--poke comes to mind; it really must be boiled in two changes of water--simply because they were so eager to get something green after a winter of dry beans, cornbread and fried potatoes. Of the wild spring greens, only watercress and lambsquarters are really tasty IMHO.

At my house, poke will get 6 feet tall, if I don't pull it early. I had some out back that looked like a small tree.

Strangepeeps,

Thanks, but I believe I've talked myself out of this. DH is forgetful and, by next spring, he'll forget I said I'd grow some. LOL

Dawn

You must have one of those dandelion free lawns Dawn. When I was reading your post I thought of my friend's husband that loves them, so I sent this thread to him.

I was in a wealthier neighborhood the other day that was almost free of dandelions except for one neighbor that must be the scorge of the neighborhood. And while I, in my lowly farm house, is busy digging them up, I look next door at another lowly farmhouse whose lawn is overwhelmed by them.

Oh, no, I have pastures full of them. None in the front yard although every other weed is there. I'm in a very, very rural area and it would be impossible to have a weed-free yard without significant herbicide use, and believe me, I don't even try. Some of my favorite wildflowers are "weeds".

The dandelions in the pastures, though, have almost no foliage this year and there's tons of wild animal scat, and roaming cats and dogs, so I wouldn't harvest from a pasture for fear of what animal may have done "whatever" near those pasture plants. I can only speculate that the dandelions sprouted and bloomed very quickly when the temps were in the 80s-90s a couple of weeks ago so their foliage didn't have much time to grow.

I love dandelions, but then I could never live in a place that expects a perfect weed-free lawn. My lawn, pastures, garden, woods, etc. are an ecosystem where all kinds of critters thrive and a lawn is basically an almost sterile monoculture--you'll never see me with a sterile monoculture!

Dawn

I think Dandelions are like Bermuda Grass. Once you start any of it, you will have LOTS of it for a long long time. I have often wondered if John Deere got their paint scheme from Dandelions. The colors are strikingly similar. The one interesting thing that I have noticed is that for some reason, Dandelions are not prevalent in Mississippi. I still have kinfolks and property there and each time I go, the lack of Dandelions in the yards is noteworthy. I wonder if the slightly acid soil there is not friendly to Dandelions like the more prevalent alkalie soil here in Oklahoma is. I put eating Dandelions in the same category with eating Tripe. No thank you!!!

Don't forget also that a nice plate of greens will clean out your system.

Here's a partial tidbit I found:

"Slowly, however, the dandelion is reclaiming the respect it deserves. Here in the United States we import over 100,000 pounds of dandelion roots annually for use in patent medicines. And, the plant is grown domestically for sale at produce stands, not only in farmersâ markets, but in supermarkets as well. If you lived in a section of the eastern United States where many people of Italian origin have settled, youâÂÂd find bundles of spring dandelions used as delicious sauteed vegetables. Or try cooking the
smallest new leaves or adding them to salads."

I Googled and found that some people roast the dandelion root and use it as a substitute for coffee. And that the root is a registered drug in Canada. The flowers are an important source of nectar and pollen for bees.

The flower heads can be made into wine, the roots can be boiled to make a tea, the leaves have a good sharp flavor that is no less unique then turnip greens, the seeds can be used like poppy seeds in baking with the fluff removed but will not have so sharp a taste.. my grandparents still grow a patch and no doubt when they stop I will here. I am not sure how he makes them into wine but it is good.

Oh yea, they do. this plant is so healthy for anyone who eats it. The roots have been used as a coffee substitute, the young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked, animals love this plant as well. The plant with its deep roots actually help aerate your soil. It helps to stimulate your liver and purify your blood.It helps in the production of honey for bees. Animals eat this for a reason. I sell many seeds on eBay and yes they do sell very well. I think the main reason for you to give them a try is for your husband. It will make him happy to remember this priceless time with his father. Our time with our parents is ever so short. My father taught me some very valuable and useful uses for wild plants that we called weeds! So give them a try, it will make your husband happy, and who doesn't want a happy husband? Good Luck and have a great day!
Linda320

Here's a recipe I tried once for dandelion wine. It turned out okay, a little syrupy, but fine. No one could really get over the ick factor of drinking something that had been sitting out on the counter for months, though.

Dandelion Blossom Wine
The late Edna Lewis was a Southern-cooking legend. She grew up in a small farming community in Virginia. In The Taste of Country Cooking (Alfred A. Knopf 1990), she wrote that in the very early spring, she would see her neighbors picking dandelions. For winemaking, she wrote, they had to be picked before noon. After that, the blossoms would close up tight. The wine was drunk at breakfast. This is adapted from her recipe.
1 gallon open dandelion blossoms
5 quarts boiling, noncarbonated water
3 1/2 pounds sugar
Pick dandelion blossoms far away from polluted areas, in clear, open fields.
Have at hand a good, clean stone crock or Pyrex container, because you will be pouring boiling water over the blossoms and a glass jar will crack and spoil your blossoms.
Pick over the blossoms. See to it that there are no spiders or bugs in them. Rinse. Drop the blossoms into the crock and pour the boiling water over them. Cover with a clean white napkin and let stand for three days where it's not too cold.
Strain through a thin, clean, odor-free cloth into a clean glass jar. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Cover again with a clean cloth and leave in the kitchen in a warm, draft-free place for three weeks. Then strain into clean, dry jars, filling up to the top. Tie a clean cloth over the mouth of each jar and leave to finish fermenting, which will take about four months, or until the wine stops being effervescent. Then strain carefully into clean bottles, leaving behind any sediment that settles on the bottom. Fill the bottles nearly full and cork tightly. Store in a dry, dark place.

I like the coffee made from roasting the roots. I now only pull up big ones that are worth roasting :-) I will also occasionally eat the leaves when they are in good shape. Squeeze the milky sap out the stem and use the leafy third of it. It was great with thistle ribs and center stalk to make a salad to go with the radishes. The roasted root coffee is the best for my tastes. Wash thoroughly. I prefer to chop them to fit in a bowl and swish in changes of water. Then roast at 250 for 2 hours on a flat surface and grind like coffee.

There's another good reason to keep dandelions around, their pollen is a staple source of food for bees. I've read a few interesting articles about it, this one sums up the salient points pretty well:

http://www.gooserockfarm.com/gpage1.html

Basically, a simple step toward helping the honey bee population recover and thrive is to just enjoy the dandelions and clover in your lawn instead of cursing them.

Food for thought anyway.

~Jenn