I was shopping innocently at my local Market Basket looking at all the pretty bundled greens & what did they have? Dandelion greens! I had to buy them, even though my yard is full of the little devils (theirs were all pretty and clean and probably their neighbor doesn't use Chemlawn like mine does).
Excuse my ignorance, but I had no idea that they were edible, so a Google search was in order. I found this site, Miriquita Farm, that seems to know a whole lot about cooking them.
Serenity in the Garden also has a great post on harvesting dandelions and what to do with them. You apparently can pick them wild, but check for bugs, lol. At least that's what my Mom said when I told her what I was making. She insisted that all dandelions have little yellow bugs on the other side of their leaves.
Why eat dandelions? Well they are actually super nutritious! Take a look at their cooked nutrition profile! http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2857/2 Loads of Vitamins and minerals!
I chose to sautee mine with garlic and olive oil to eat along with my scrambled eggs and mushrooms for breakfast.
Here's how they looked right from the grocer. Much prettier than the ones in my yard up above.
I chopped them small, removing any large spines but keeping the small ones.
Then I sauteed them in a 1/2 tbs of olive oil with garlic, onions, and mushrooms just until soft.
I thought they were okay... but much prefer the flavor of cooked spinach which has a similar but slightly better nutrition profile. So will I ever cook dandelions again? Maybe... I have to admit that my Mom's voice was right there with every bite reminding me of the little yellow bugs. I am happy to know that they are edible though... if there ever is a nuclear holocaust and all plant-life has died... I bet that the dandelion will be the first plant to come back after nuclear winnter. So while every other family will be walking along Mc Carthy's Road hungry, we will be snacking on dandelion leaves.
