Friday, May 6, 2011

Eating dandelion flower tops?

Dandelions....most gardeners detest this weed, But, did you know you can not only eat the greens but, the flower head is edible as well? Yep! Dandelions are in the perennial family. They are often referred to as weeds. Each dandelion has a bright yellow flower head that grows on a long skinny, hollow stem. The flower head can change from bright yellow to white seeds overnight. Now, never have eaten dandelion flower heads before I was a bit skeptical on serving fried dandelions flowers for my dinner table however, my niece and sister was telling me how yummy and good these were dipped in egg, dredged in flour and then fried in butter. My Dad said they tasted like mushrooms. We haven't found any of these wonderful fungi yet....I do see lots of yellow dandelion flower heads though. That did it! I would try these flower heads and serve them with my meal tonight. My sister and I picked a bunch today. I took them home. I first soaked them in salt water for 15 to 20 minutes.
I then rinsed them well. dipped in egg,
rolled in flour
and then fried them in butter until golden brown.
I wasn't sure how DH was going to take eating these flower heads and as I expected, he wasn't the least thrilled about this. He did eat 4 of them and said that was enough for him. I ate about the same. They were edible but to tell you the truth they did not taste like mushrooms. A little disappointment but hey, we tried. Fried dandelion flower heads on our dinner table again? Well, not unless we were totally starving. If I want mushroom taste i will eat real mushrooms! Okay maybe not. But, hey, go ahead appreciate them for what they are worth. Harvest them then fry them up for yourself you may be surprised. Word of caution though, Do not eat dandelions from lawns that have been chemically treated. My sister and I picked these in a field by my Dads house.

3 comments:

  1. I know everyone eats the flowers, but I haven't because I don't like mushrooms. However, I eat the greens raw in salads and cooked like spinach. Lately, I've dug up some dandelion roots and dried them. I plan to roast them in the oven and then grind them into coffee. I don't have enough roots to make a big batch, so I'm going to mix it with my regular coffee. Dandelion coffee has no caffeine and is an excellent source of vitamins.

    I think it's creative and frugal to eat from the wild and dandelions are abundant. Dad should probably go light on them because of the vast amount of vitamin K in dandelion (mainly the greens).

    Interesting post.

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  2. TY! I knew you could use dandilion the root for a coffee substitute although I haven't tried it yet. But, isn't amazing how you can use just about all of this weed? Pretty neat when you think about it.

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