Dandelion salad?

[bills]

I remember as a child, my Mom, and my Grandma, fixing up some dandelion green salads. As best I can recall, they tasted pretty good with a oil & vinegar dressing.

I read on another thread of a person who ate to much dandelion greens. I don't know how one suffers, although I suspect it may be the trots??

Since it's been so many years since I ate any, could someone refresh me on how much one can eat safely.

Any other pointers on this free, bountiful, crop, ie. size of leaves, picking before flowering or after, tasty dressings, etc..

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Well, all I can offer is what little I do know . . . I remember reading that you are supposed to use only the new fresh leaves (only eat dandelion leaves in the spring).

If I were you, I'd start by just adding a few leaves to some other type of lettuce salad. You could then increase the amount slowly, each time you want to eat them, until you think you've reached your limit.

I think there was an article on dandelion greens on Mother Earth News at one point. You might try searching for that.

 

[robbobbin]

At my grandma's house fresh greens were "wilted" in bacon grease and eaten. I've also had them wilted with mayo. In the south we ate most greens cooked, not fresh in a salad(all healthy like they should be)

 

[calee]

Dandelion greens get bitter with age, so stick with the young leaves. Folks think of dandelion as a spring green because there are lots of young greens then. Mine never make it past a mixed salad, but I know folks who steam them lightly. Also, roots collected in the spring can be sauteed with a little onion and garlic, and aren't nearly as bitter as the fall roots (though the fall roots are more potent medicinally).

As for the side effects... it can be laxative. Also, dandelion will really make you need to pee. Seriously. If you're on medication that needs a certain fluid level in your body, lots of dandelion can be an issue because of the diuretic effects. However, if you've got bloating or fluid swelling anywhere (like your ankles), dandelion totally rocks.

By the way, when you harvest some, check out the milky sap. That sap is incredible stuff. With regular use, dabbing it on will get rid of any kind of tough skin (like calluses, corns, or warts).

For anyone wanting to go out and find some, just make sure that there is NO HAIR on the leaves, and only one flower per stalk. If you see hairy, slightly rounded leaves or a branching flower stalk, it isn't dandelion.

 

[bills]

For anyone wanting to go out and find some, just make sure that there is NO HAIR on the leaves, and only one flower per stalk. If you see hairy, slightly rounded leaves or a branching flower stalk, it isn't dandelion.

Some great info in your post, thanks! I should try that sap on my callosed hands. Trouble is the chickens may want to nibble at them, as they love dandelions..

I have noticed several dandelion looking plants in my yard, and can see where some may harvest the wrong kind, so good info here as well.

 

[ShellieESterling]

My father mentioned eating dandelions as a kid. I know in Greece, there's a relative of the dandelion plant that they cook in oil and serve like cooked spinach as a side dish for just about every meal.

I plan to forage around the new house and see what edibles are there. There's a black walnut tree that I'm pretty excited about

 

[calee]

Just a follow up; I didn't want to scare anyone out of trying to harvest dandelions, and thought this might make folks feel better about being sure their dandelions are the real deal:

These are dandelion. Sharply and deeply serrated leaves with no hair and non-branching flower stalks.

These are NOT dandelion. The leaves are slightly rounded with lots of hair and branching flower stalks.

 

[Tutter]

Excellent examples, Calee! Do you know what they are?

(Milkweed?)

 

[ams3651]

just to add, my grandfather used the smaller younger leaves. still can see him in the yard with a pocket knife and a baggie....

 

[calee]

I think the false dandelion in those photos is catsear. Supposedly it is edible... BUT it can make horses sick if they eat too much, and I don't know anybody who does eat it. Needless to say, I'm suspicious. I'm nowhere near as big as a horse.