Wild edibles sometimes seem so… complicated. You have to find the time and the place to forage for your foods, you have to hit the season just right, you have to have good plant identification skills. While wild foods and foraging bring me great joy, it's not likely going to be something that everyone will want to jump in on full-force.
You're busy. I get it. But you are also curious. (Right?) So I thought maybe we'd take this wild edibles conversation down to perhaps its simplest incarnation. A plant that I daresay everyone reading this knows. The loved/loathed dandelion.
Much to the chagrin of our neighbors, we have a healthy crop of robust yellow flowers throughout our lawn. I'm guessing you do, too. Did you know that the leaves, flowers, and roots all have edible and/or medicinal value? Its true!
The kids and I whipped up a quick and easy batch of dandelion fritters using a variation of the recipe we found here. (We modified it by using freshly ground spelt flour.)
Sage picked a few dozen dandelion flower heads while Lupine and I made the batter. Then we dipped them in the batter and cooked them up like tiny pancakes. The flipping of all those flower-sized pancakes is the only time consuming part of the project, and Sage was a faithful flipper. I dipped, he flipped.
And the taste? Yum. Without reservation the kids (and adults) gobbled
them up. The recipe was so quick, so simple, so wild from our yard.
Very satisfying. (Sage was almost impossible to photograph. In his
words"I can't stop eating them. They are too good!")
So before you fire up the lawnmower this weekend, give it a whirl. It's easy. And quick. I promise!
the kiddos and i just made fried dandelions the other day too! we had so much fun! while eating them, saela(my 3 and 1/2 y/o) looked out the window and exclaimed, “oh no, we forgot to pick a few!” … a few thousand that is! 😉 plenty left out there for many more meals!
have a great weekend!
So fun, Katie! Glad were not the only family grazing away on our lawn!
🙂 Rachel
I get such a warm-fuzzy when it comes to dandelions. My “off the boat” eastern European grandma who raised me used dandelions flower to root. Unfortunately I was not as observant a child as I should have been so I do not have all of that wisdom. My grandma’s own mother was a “wise-woman” and had a garden full of remedies that I don’t think my grandma even knows the extent of. I think the desire to become “Americanized” drove out this “eccentric” side of our heritage. This topic has given me some thought about spending time with my grandma…drilling her for any information she has on her mother’s herbal wisdom. But I digress…
I LOVE dandelion salad the way my grandma makes it. Red potatoes (peeled and boiled) still piping hot put atop freshly washed dandelion greens with cut up hard-boiled egg and coarsely chopped yellow onion. A healthy dose of a mild white vinegar over the top and a drizzle of olive oil. Salt and lots of pepper. If she has some beef she used to make soup she pulls that into shreds and puts that on too…but you can have it with meat or without. mmmmmm
Cassandra,
The potato salad recipe sounds divine. I will try it for sure! And I agree and understand about the lost wisdom of our line of mothers. Perhaps it is our charge to rediscover what they knew so long ago.
Rachel
I think we’re definitely going to try these fritters! Thanks for the recipe – and the motivation. :o)
Oh! I love those little plants–I always think our yard is so pretty when it’s full of happy yellow flowers (although our neighbors don’t quite see it that way, I’m sure.)
I’ve known they were edible and good for you in lots of ways…but I’ve not ever taken the time to figure out what to do with them (aside from flower crowns and “sandbox soup,” that is 🙂 ) So thank you for this post…I think this might be just the thing to try this weekend. Although I might try the petals in the batter version first. Baby steps.
Is it important to wash the dandelions before using them in a recipe? I’m one of those people who will eat strawberries right out of the carton, but considering the number of dogs in our neighborhood, the dandelions may have been watered by something other than rain.
WHOA! Sage! Haircut!
YUM! We pick all of our dandelions, but it is our angora rabbits favorite treat in the whole wide world, so they go to her! 😉 We do use some of the greens for ourselves to supplement my microgreen growing, though. Looks yummy.
I just started reading The Home Remedy Book by Joyce A. Wardwell and have been itching to try and harvest some dandelions. I’m excited to try this recipe!
We made these immediately. Maple likes them with a bit of honey, I however, am having a swell time popping them in my mouth with a dollop of the soft cheese Emily made yesterday. And I, like Sage, just can’t stop eating them!
Really, I just thought they were weeds, We get hundreds growing through our orchard. Ill have to give them a try.
Let me know how you like them!
Rachel
Meg,
I would think you could easily modify this for overnight batter too (you know, tooth friendly). Rock on, Sally Fallon.
Rachel
Lori,
It was all him. Cute, eh?
Rachel
Hi Susanne,
We chose to pick from dog-free zones (the middle of the yard or a less traveled area). You also want to avoid roadsides because of pollutants. If in doubt give them a good rinse.
Rachel
I have to cast my vote as another pro-dandilion girl! My neighbor recently apologized for not getting rid of hers, and I told her I thought they were perfect. I’ve been keeping my yard so mowed this year that I haven’t had many, but I have to try finding a few to make pancakes…and hope that a non-dairy version turns out okay too!
We love these! We have been making them for several years using a combination of GF grain and seed flours – basically our regular pancake recipe.
We love dandelion fritters!! Our gang makes them by plucking the petals from the green stem (mostly just a texture thing) then mixing them into the batter. Delish! Usually we serve with “fairy salad” (i.e. chickweed, violet flowers, redbuds, etc…).
Happy Eating!
<3
Wonderful!
~ Rachel
perfect! Well try this soon.
xo
Rachel