I'm sure my lawn has more dandelions than grass. And there's good reason for that. Dandelions (Taraxacum officinalis) are among my favourite and most used of the wild edibles.
I prefer the roots because they can be used to make so many delicious things. For instance, a simple decoction, or light boiling, of the fresh or dried roots makes a fine tonic. The taste is subtle, but pleasing. If you're looking for a local, fair trade substitute for coffee or chocolate, dandelion roots are where it’s at. Roasted, the roots make a dark, delicious coffee-like drink or cocoa substitute that contains no caffeine.
Coffee and Other Dandelion Root Beverages
Collect some medium-sized roots (see below for best times and places to pick them). Wash in several changes of water and chop into ½-inch, approximately even-sized, pieces. Spread out on a cookie sheet and roast in an oven for about two hours at 225 – 250 F. The roots will obtain their best flavour when they turn a rich brown and smell just about burnt. A higher temperature can be used (e.g. 275 – 325 F), but at these temperatures, you will run the risk of actually burning them and the sugars won’t carmelize as nicely.
I often grind the roots slightly with a mortar and pestle before I brew them. A coffee grinder should work too, but you may then want to put the powdery root into a cloth tea bag of some sort.
Now place about 2 tbsp of the roasted root in a medium pot of water, bring to a boil and allow to simmer on low heat for 10 to 20 minutes. The longer the brew, the better the flavour.
Once removed from heat, you can create soothing variations by adding wild mint or lavender leaves and steeping for another 15 minutes.
For a spicy winter drink, brew the roots with roasted barley, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper. Add a splash of vanilla once removed from the heat. This is my version of Bengal Spice Tea made by Celestial Seasonings®.
To make cocoa, powder the roasted roots in a blender and then sift with a very fine sieve. Use this powder in place of cocoa powder in your favourite chocolate cake recipe or to make hot dandelion cocoa.
I have also used dandelion cocoa to make a unique chocolate/mocha-flavoured pudding and added it to icing and rumballs.
The best flavour for dandelion root beverages comes from medium-sized roots harvested in early spring or fall. Look for good-sized plants growing in loose soil with little competition. Gardens are great. Lawns, not so much. They usually produce dandelions with small roots and little flavour. Still, with regular dandelion harvesting and loosening of the soil (I use a garden fork), you can turn your lawn, or portion thereof, into a dandelion garden that will produce the perfect-sized roots.
Of course, there's more to dandelion roots than hot drinks. You can grind up the dried, unroasted roots and add them to breads and pancakes to boost the nutritional value and experience a different flavour. But don't get carried away. When consumed in excess, any plant can cause the very problems it’s otherwise capable of treating. That’s how I found out the hard way that raw dandelion roots are good for relieving gas. Next time I use the raw flour in pancakes, I’ll add only 1 or 2 tablespoons per cup of wheat flour, not ½ a cup!
Leaves, Flowers, Fritters
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition data, dandelion leaves rank higher than domestic garden spinach in both iron and beta-carotene (the plant-based precursor to Vitamin A). In fact, with the exception of parsley, dandelion greens have the highest iron content of all domestic and wild greens listed. So go ahead and add some to a salad or a sandwich, or boil some for 5 or 10 minutes to serve as a potherb.
My first experience eating dandelion greens was horrible! Despite gathering them early in the spring while the flower buds were still tight, as I’d been advised to do, they were so bitter that after five bites I ended up putting my salad right back where I found it – outside. This bitter property actually makes the greens a good aid to digestion. But if you're not one for strong bitters, gather the leaves from dandelions growing in the shade. These are quite pleasant, with hardly any bitterness at all.
Every spring, where I live, lawns that have turned into a solid yellow carpet of dandelion flowers are a common sight. The locals don't particularly mind, probably because this sunny weed invasion signals the beginning of morel season.
Dandelion flowers have long been used to make wine – a group project, in my view, because it takes a lot of flowers to make a decent amount - of wine. It doesn't take many to make great bite-sized fritters when battered and deep-fried, though. Dandelion fritters are a great way to introduce children to wild edibles. After all, what kid doesn’t enjoy picking dandelions and eating fried food?
Dandelion Fritters
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp ground flax
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch salt
½ cup milk/soy milk
2 tsp sugar/honey
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Fresh dandelion flowers.
Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix just until batter is smooth. Dip dandelion flowers in batter and deep fry in vegetable oil just above medium heat. Remove fritters when they've turned a light brown and place on paper towel to drain.
If you only have time to get acquainted with a few wild edibles, I highly recommend that the dandelion be one of them. Not only is it versatile and delicious, but you can use it throughout the growing season for both food and medicine. And you'll never have to look far to find it!
Botanist and workshop leader Laura Reeves is the founder of Prairie Shore Botanicals and author of Laura Reeves’ Guide to Useful Plants: From acorns to zoom sticks. For a hands-on experience in wild edible harvesting and preparation, check out her workshop,“’You can eat that?!’ Wild Edible Adventures” (details at psbotanicals.com).
Below - Roasted dandelion roots
Below - Dandelion Fritters
