When I look out over my yard and see those sunny flower heads and toothy green leaves, I don’t see a nuisance; I see free nutrient-rich food. All parts of the dandelion are edible from their sweet and fragile blooms that make a delightful mead-like wine, to their slightly bitter tender early-spring greens, to the inulin-rich carrot-like late-fall roots. Working with the fresh plant is quite rewarding, but as you can see, not all parts of the dandelion are in-season year round.

Luckily, the leaves and roots can be dried for use year-round, and many of the preparations we make can keep well until it’s harvest-time again.

Dandelion vinegar is a great concoction to keep in your house as a digestive stimulant and can be used just like any other vinegar in your cupboard. You can find that recipe in my Dandelion Medicine article that we began this month with.

Dandelion Root Coffee Substitute

One of my favorite ways to enjoy dandelion root year-round is as a hot and tasty coffee-like beverage. There are several commercial products available such as Dandy-Blend, but none of them taste as good or pack as many health-benefits as the real thing!

Materials needed:

Roots: fresh is best, but dried works well

• Dandelion - 3 parts

• Chicory - 3 parts

• Burdock - 3 parts

• Licorice - 1 part

Optional powders to taste:

• Cinnamon

• Turmeric

Tools:

• Coffee/spice grinder

• Oven and sheet pan if you are roasting fresh herbs

• Saucepan to make your decoction

• reusable filter to strain your finished product

Directions:

1. If beginning with fresh roots, wash them well and coarsely chop them. Then spread them in an even layer on a baking sheet and roast them at 300 F for 40 minutes or until dry. If beginning with dry roots, you are ready to proceed to step two.

2. Combine your ingredients in the ratios outlined above. You could make a large batch by using cups or a smaller batch by using Tbsps. I like to start with smaller batches to figure out my preferences and make adjustments from there. Licorice root is quite sweet and can be overpowering which is why I list it as 1 part to 3 parts of each other herb. These small batches also give you the ability to play with powdered flavoring herbs to find your preferred blend as well.

3. Using your coffee/spice grinder, grind your mix into a powder.

4. Add 1 Tbsp ground mix per cup of water into a saucepan, bring to a simmer, cover, reduce the heat, and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Strain, and enjoy as you would any cup of coffee.

6. Optional - Sometimes I get caught up in other projects and may forget about my pot on the stove, or I want to sip on a hot beverage through the day. For these cases, I use a standard coffee pot and add my herbs directly into the carafe. Then I let the coffee maker run a normal cycle and keep the beverage hot for me. The hot plate will keep the liquid hot but not quite boiling. The longer it sits, the stronger it gets, so be aware of this. This method can be used for all herbal infusions and I often employ it in my clinic. It’s a great, low mess, and trash-free way to enjoy medicinal strength herbal teas.

Dandelion Pesto

Now that we have a recipe for Dandelion roots, let’s work with those leaves! Dandelion leaves can be used just like any other greens. They do tend to be a bit more bitter, so you may wish to begin introducing the leaves as a mixture with other greens or in a flavorful pesto.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dandelion leaves rough chopped

• 1-2 cloves garlic

• 2-3 Tbsp shelled pinenuts

• 1 tsp Turmeric

• 2 Tbsp parmesan (optional)

• 1/3 cup olive oil

• juice of 1/2 a lemon

Tools:

• blender, food processor, or mortar and pestle for mixing ingredients

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients

2. Blend or grind into a paste

3. enjoy!

Suggestion - pair your dandelion pesto with some flaxseed crackers for a tasty treat for your digestive tract.

Dandelion Blossom Fritters

This is a tasty way to eat Dandelion flowers smothered in jam or syrup just as you would eat pancakes. Dandelion flowers can be eaten raw, sprinkled into baked goods, infused in honey, or brewed into tea/tincture/wine.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole grain flour or gluten-free flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/8 tsp salt

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup milk or dairy-free milk

• 1 cup dandelion flower petals (separate from the bitter green bottom part)

• Solid fat for cooking (1-2Tbsp - enough to grease your pan)

Instructions:

1. Mix all ingredients with the exception of the flower petals and fat into a batter.

2. Fold in the petals

3. add fat to a hot pan

4. Cook batter like pancakes

5. Enjoy with your favorite pancake toppings.

More ideas for using Dandelions in your kitchen

Roots:

Dandelion roots can be used just like carrots. You can chop them up and add them to salads, soups, and stir fries. The roasted root makes a great addition to hot chocolate to make a mocha like drink. Dandelion roots can be pickled and eaten or infused in vinegar, glycerine, or alcohol to make a tincture.

Leaves:

Dandelion leaves can be used just as you would any other greens. I like to add them to smoothies, salads, colcannon, soups, stews, or just cook them up with some butter and lemon to eat as a vegetable side-dish.

Flowers:

Dandelion flowers can be used to make Dandelion wine and syrup. They can be sprinkled on salads, or the petals make a great addition to baked goods.

Whole Plant:

I personally like to use the whole plant to make tinctures, vinegars, and glycerites to be used medicinally. The whole plant can also be rough chopped and added to soups, stews, and stir fries. Additionally, the whole plant can be used to brew Dandelion beer.

What are your favorite Dandelion Recipes? Please feel free to share.