There are so many vegetables that I've never tried, but thanks to my recent interest in discovering new foods, I have another new salad green to add to my repetoire. Dandelion greens are one of the most nutritious leafy vegetables you can buy. The greens have a slightly bitter taste. They are elegant in a salad, and can be used in stirfries and soup.
Dandelions support digestion, reduce swelling and inflammation and treat viruses, jaundice, edema and acne. This sunflower relative boasts potent medicinal properties with laxative and diuretic properties. The best leaves are early leaves, which are the most tender.
The flowers from the dandelion can be used to make wine or honey-preserved blossom spread. (don't harvest dandelion flowers from lawns that may have been chemically treated). It's amazing how resilient this "weed" is. No matter how many chemicals we spray on them, dandelions reign. They can't be killed.
The best part of using dandelion greens in salad or soups is the vitamins you're getting. 1 cup of dandelion greens has 54% of your daily requirement of Vitamin A, 188% of your Vitamin K requirement, and 10% of your calcium needs. Compare this with a cup of broccoli which has 12%, 11%, and 4% respectively.
Recently on my son Phil's blog, www.foodiephilosophy.com, Phil wrote about his winter garden and his successes and failures. He has produced some watercress, and had a very creative salad using watercress on his website. I think you could replace the watercress with dandelion greens and have an equally great salad. Here's what he did:
Phil's Watercress Salad (Replace watercress with Dandelion Greens)
2 cups dandelion greens, torn and placed on plate
1 watermelon raddish, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup marcona almonds
several slices of prociutto, torn in pieces
Drizzle salad with your favorite vinegrette and enjoy.
This is a peppery, slightly bitter salad, mixed with sweet and salty. A great winter salad.
No comments:
Post a Comment