Dandelions Make Dandy Salads! - a Guide to Edible Wild Plants

Did you know that healthy, edible wild plants are right in your own back yard? Dandelions may be a nuisance in your garden but they're tasty and nutritious to eat. The high nutritional value of dandelions would surprise most people! Try eating dandelions in a salad, or boil and fry the greens in one of the recipes suggested here.

Recipes: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5889912/easy_dandelions_recipes_for_every_day.html?cat=32

Here's an intriguing way to rid your lawn of dandelions: you simply eat them! Dug out in the early spring before the blossoms form, tender young dandelions make a tasty addition to any salad. The fresh greens can be boiled, fried, used as an embellishment in potato salad, or prepared and served as wilted dandelion. They can be substituted for spinach or Swiss chard in virtually any recipe.

If eating a weed doesn't sound too appealing, be assured that dandelions have an impeccable history as table fare. People have been dining on dandelions since biblical times, and probably earlier. Dandelion greens are commonly sold in produce markets, especially those serving ethnic neighborhoods.

But you don't have to be of ethnic origin or even buy dandelions to enjoy them. The fringes of any lawn or field should yield a heaping basket full simply for the picking. Choose medium- sized young dandelions (3- to 5-inch stems) before the upper notched green leaf has fully matured.

To rid a lawn of dandelions, used a trowl to loosen the soil and wiggle them up roots and all. Then trim off the roots and wash the stems. The roots are edible as well, but for introductory purposes we will confine this to the above ground parts. If you are simply gathering greens for the table, it's easier to just cut the shoots off, wash them thoroughly, and to sort out any bits of grass or leaves.

For the choicest taste, look for a succulent, tender young dandelions emerging blanched through last autumn's dried leaves. Scrape the leaves outside and you will notice that the stems are pure white and sometimes tinged with pink. Remove a stem, take a nibble, and you'll find it succulently tender with a mild taste somewhat like endive, yet with a subtle flavor all its own.

The common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) gets its name from the French word "dent de lion" meaning lion's tooth. Evidently the Frenchman who named the plant never got close enough to a lion's tooth to see that it doesn't have the slightest resemblance to a dandelion, and vise versa. But that strange observation doesn't detract in the slightest from its culinary and healthy aspects. Dandelions are high in vitamin A. and also contain vitamin B, calcium and phosphorus, all essential to good health.

Several precautions should be observed when dining on dandelions. First, don't gather dandelions from a lawn that has been sprayed with weed killing chemicals. In theory, there shouldn't be any to pick; the chemicals have eradicated them. But if a few persist, leave them be and find your dandelions elsewhere. Secondly, don't over indulge in your first meal unless you are prepared to risk a mildly laxative effect. The same holds true for many other fresh picked, raw greens.

Dandelions might be the all time enemy of gardeners, but most people who have sampled them agree that they make mighty tasty organic salads and delicious dishes. Common though they may be, they present us with a reminder that the best things in life are free.

Interested in testing your culinary skills? Try some of these easy dandelions recipes! Surprise your family and friends with unique dishes straight from your own backyard.http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5889912/easy_dandelions_recipes_for_every_day.html?cat=32

Sources:

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/kallas82.html
http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html
http://hubpages.com/hub/Harvesting-and-Eating-Dandelions