It’s not a joke — you can eat dandelion greens

I’m exhausted from the past few weeks of hunting around in the woods for elusive forage-foods such as morels and ramps. I’m ready to eat something a little easier to get my hands on. 

Dandelion greens, for example. 

As anyone who has a lawn or has seen a lawn (any  lawn) in the past week or so knows, this is a super simple plant to forage. If ramps and morels are coy and mysterious, dandelions are upfront, straightforward and easy to find, perhaps more akin to Miley Cyrus than to Greta Garbo.  

Perhaps you think I’m kidding, but I’m not. People do eat dandelion greens. The French add them to salads. The National Institutes of Health officially categorizes them as an herb. Posh shops such as Whole Foods sell them as fresh produce. 

But you don’t have to head to SoHo to buy them. You can just pick them. As always, there is a word of caution: Don’t eat any plants unless you are absolutely sure they have not been sprayed with chemicals.

As with most plants and herbs, the tenderest dandelion greens will be the youngest ones. 

Perhaps you are thinking that, “Once we start eating dandelion greens, where do we stop? Why not just eat grass?” Well, there is legitimacy to that question, but the fact remains that the French don’t put grass in their salads and the NIH does not list grass as an herb.

People have also done studies on dandelions and found that they are super cleansing for your kidneys and your liver, as are most of the dark leafy greens. They are also good for your eyes and can help you delay or avoid the onset of macular degeneration. 

The NIH also warns that anyone “with an inflamed or infected gallbladder, or blocked bile ducts, should avoid using dandelion.”

Once you’ve decided to take the leap and eat some weeds, you’ll wonder of course how to use them. Sauteed in olive oil is always a good answer. Raw in salads (in the French manner) is good. You can add them to soups, as you might add a handful of spinach. 

You can also dry them and then turn them into tea (or tisane, I believe is the correct name for any hot beverage made from herbs or flowers).

If you want to become a home vintner, you can try to make dandelion wine (use the flowers, not the leaves). 

Anyone who loves to read online food blogs should know about David Lebovitz, the chef-author, who has been writing about living and cooking in Paris since 2002. As discussed above, the French appreciate dandelion greens and, according to Lebovitz, often sell them at farm markets. 

When he sees a bunch, he reports on his blog, “I scoop up as many as possible to bring home and sauté the chopped leaves with slices of fresh garlic, then toss them with whole wheat pasta, olive oil and red chile flakes. Then I top the bowl with chunks of feta cheese and dive in.”

When he buys them, they usually still have their roots on, and (based on the blog photo) they also seem to have a fair amount of dead leaves. He cleans those all off before cooking (you should, too).

If he has time, he makes pesto, which he says will last in the refrigerator for about four days or can last up to two months in the freezer. A friend of mine suggests that you should freeze all pesto in ice-cube trays. Once the little cubes are frozen, transfer them to a plastic freezer container and take them out a cube at a time, as needed.

Dandelion Pesto

Adapted From 

www.davidlebovitz.com

A big handful (about 8 ounces) of washed and cleaned dandelion leaves, 1/4 cup good quality olive oil (your pesto is only as good as your oil), two garlic cloves, peeled, 3 tablespoons of pine nuts, lightly toasted (you can substitute walnuts or any other nut that you love), 1 teaspoon coarse salt, 1.5 ounces of  Parmesan or Romano cheese, grated or chopped into chunks that your food processor can handle. 

Combine the dandelion greens, olive oil and garlic in the food processor and whirl until it’s not a puree but there are still bits of leaf intact (you don’t want it to be completely liquid, and keep in mind that you’re about to process it some more). I like to add very little olive oil at this point, because it concentrates the pesto for freezing. If you’re planning to actually serve it right away, add another quarter cup of olive oil.

Add the pine nuts and salt and process until it’s the texture you like (again, I don’t like it too liquid; I like it to have a little bit of leaf). Again, I don’t add the cheese if I think I’m going to freeze it; I add the cheese just before serving. If you are planning to serve this right away, then go ahead and add the cheese at this point. 

Add more salt if you want it, and a few grinds of black pepper. 

I was taught to heat up the pesto before adding it to the pasta by adding a few spoonfuls of pasta water to the pesto after the pasta has been drained (that means, of course, that you will need to reserve some pasta water before you pour it out into the sink).