How & When to Find Dandelions
In South Dakota and Minnesota the first dandelions start to pop up in mid-April. Dandelions are one of the very first greens to arrive every spring and they make me sooo happy to see on my lawn!!! They begin to flower in early May and are found EVERYWHERE but don’t eat them from lawns treated with herbicides.
How to Eat & Cook Dandelions
RAW: I eat the raw dandelion leaves by covering up the bitterness in hummus sandwiches. They are much too bitter to eat in any other way even if they are young and growing in perfect conditions. However, you can eat the yellow portion of the flower raw and have no worries of a bitter taste.
COOKED: Simply fry up the roots in olive oil in the same way that you might fry up a carrot. Make sure to scratch off the dirt and brown layer with your fingernail before cooking them. Add to Asian stir-fries.
COFFEE: The best way to consume dandelions is to chop up the cleaned roots and bake in the oven for 40 minutes and 350°F. Your kitchen will smell like chocolate. Then blend up the roots and use as a coffee substitute. It is truly an incredible flavor!
Want to see more wild edible plants to forage in South Dakota and the Northern Plains? Go to the main plant page here:
TREEfool 