Can you really eat Dandelions

Saw a post that barley touched on this subject. Is the whole plant edible no poisons anwhere from roots to green to flower and stem? Thanks you dandelion lovers....



Mike...

 

i drink tea from dandelion leaves. people makes wine but i don't know from which part

 

I have had Dandelion Soup before- it was putrid but it didn't have anything wrong with it besides taste/smell.
I did not make it though, another person I was camping with did...and it was a few years ago so I do nto remember exacttly. I will try to get a hold of him and fidn otu though....

 

You can eat the leaves raw in a salad, or cooked/steamed. You can eat the roots boiled as a tuber or roast & groud them as a kind of coffee. You can use the flowers to make wine, or also throw some in a salad (use the yellow flower head only -not the green base, it's really strong tasting). I've never used the flower stem for anything, it doesn't look too tasty, but maybe if you google around a bit you will find something for it too. It's a pretty bitter type of plant, you probably don't want to eat it by itself but rather mix it with some others.

 

ya you can eat the whole thing.i dont like the taste of them but i like to make wine with them thats good tasteing

 

its supposed to be less bitter when the leaves are picked young. very nutritious plant, deserves a lot more respect than it gets.

 

If you are interested about that kind of thing, there is a book series called foxfire......it came out in the seventies, but i have seen new printing sof the,...they touch on wild foods as well as many other things of mountain livign such as welldiggin cabin raising stuff like that.....

 

I had some once and fell in love with dandelion wine. Reminded me af tart and tangy lemonade (with a huge kick!) If anyone has a good recipe I would appreciate it.

 

Very nutritious! Just watch out for its diuretic effects.

In French it's called pissenlit (literally, "piss in the bed") for a reason.

 

for gdhmomchild -

http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-00,dandelion_wine,FF.html

Can't really go wrong brewing dandelion wine....it's really just the taste your extracting from the plant......it doesn't make the brewing process any harder/easier

lol, it does come outa the bottle like rocket fuel occasionally tho'.... good stuff

 

well yaya that dandy lion is my first salad

after a long winter , i'll be just lolly by
the wayside munching the green . the best
sweetest plants are growing in organic lawns
with a grass/clover mix -
or in the forest .

when the water and nutrient and plant
diversity balance is out of whack ,
the dandylion takes over literally
and bitterly .

 

i used to eat dandelions all the time as a kid...haven't tried any recently. that wine does sound intriging by the way.

 

((((((((Oz!))))))))
tytytyty! I tried to google it once but only came up with ones that didn't sound at all right! I knew there wasn't alot put in and the recipes I found had alot of things in them I knew wasn't in the one I had. That very first one sounds about right.

 

Dandelions are incredible plants! sooo sad that they are the poster child for weed killers!
they are incredible for the liver & breasts! susun weed has an entire chapter on them in her wise woman herbal. supposedly they have NO toxicity & ALL parts can be used! roots should be dug in fall & leaves taste better when weather is cool (spring & fall). so, come on folks, get out there eat some dandelions!!!!

 

Awesome guys, thanks for all the information. No when I got the munchies I know what to do... buy a bag of doritios if I got a buck or pick some dandelions if I dont... lol


Mike...

 

we have an annual dandelion festival in our provice and they cook up a whole lot of different foods with all parts of the plant. the strangest (but tastiest) food i tried was dandelion pancakes

 

If your dandelions are a little bitter then add them to salads like some do with spinnace to make kids eat it. I know just dandelions, unless really young and tender, don't do it for me but with other mixed greens it's great.

 

I am surprised people eat Dandelion leaves raw. It contains latex like substances which cause the horrible rubbery taste, which can be boiled/steamed out. If you steam dandelion leaves for long enough, they can taste just as pleasant as spinach or cabbage in a stew, stirfry or casserole.

And like scarlit says, the plant deserves more respect than it gets. It is incredibly nutritious and its actually quite normal in many European countries to include the leaves in food especially in early spring when the plants are young.

I have picked leaves and flowers from dandelions and hung them from my verandah for a few days (in the hot australian air). Once they dry out they make a nice tea.

 

yeah, dandy tea is a great diuretic (helps with water retention) & liver cleanser too!

 

dandilion wine is miiiighhhty fine