I love the idea of foraging for food. When it comes to foraging, berries are a given, but there are so many edible plants right in our front yards.
Natural, organic, medicinal, and free? Sounds too good to be true and in a way I guess it is because we have to get off our rumps and identify it, pick it, wash it, and prepare it.
This week we have been getting lots of beautiful Dandelions and we have been using them in almost everything!
I love them because they are:
. Easy to identify.
. Easy to find.
. Easy to prepare.
. Nutritious and Medicinal.
You can use every part of a Dandelion!
The roots are often used as a coffee alternative. People like to cut them up, dry them out and then brew them. I haven’t tried it yet (I really enjoy coffee) but I am sure I will give the roots a try someday.
The leaves can be used in all kinds of things. Just like spinach or kale, you can make a salad from fresh clean leaves or use them in the food you are cooking. I like to use them in scrambled eggs, lasagna, and dips. The smaller spring leaves seem to have the least amount of bitterness.
The Dandelion flower has very little bitterness and a nice mild flavor. The trick is to pick all the green off of the dandelion head and just use the yellow parts. You can use the whole head but it might have an earthy bitter taste. Tea’s are pretty simple to make and very popular. I am not a huge fan of the tea by itself but with a little honey or mixed in with other flavors is nice. I like to use Dandelion heads in eggs, biscuits, and bread.
Here are some things we did this week with Dandelions:
1. We breaded Dandelion heads with eggs and flour then fried them. That was a fun appetizer but sorry I did’t get a picture!
2. Dandelion Bread
Dandelion whole wheat bread
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP Quick Yeast
- 2 Cups Warm Water
- 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
- !/4 Cup Coconut oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 Cup Dandelion Heads Whole or Just the Yellow Peddles
- 5 Cups Flour We used Whole Wheat
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water.
- Mix in the maple syrup and coconut oil.
- While mixing, slowly add in the salt baking soda and one cup of flour at a time.
- When the mixture is combined, form into a ball, cover with a towel, and let it rest for at least an hour to rise. It should almost double.
- Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes with a dough hook attachment or by hand.
- Divide the dough into 2 balls and place each in a greased bread pan, cover with a towel, and let rise for 1.5 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350° bake your breads for 25-35 minutes. They should be firm and sound hollow when you tap the top.
- Let cool and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
I used pans like These and I love them!
3. We added greens and a few heads to the top of our pizza. Yum!
4. I’m trying my hand at making Dandelion Mead with my fermenting kit from Fermentools.
I’ll post the recipe if it’s awesome.
Thanks for reading and I hope I inspired you to go forage for food today!
