Fried Dandelion Blossoms
most people look at the dandeloins in their yard as a nuisance, but not I! I look as them as a tasty treat. I had a hard time convincing the kids today that they could actually eat and ENJOY dandelions :)
Gabriel and I sat with 2 baskets in our neaighbor Calebs front yard (free of pesticideds and puppy peepee) and pulled flower heads and greens for about 3o minutes. After, we brought them home washed them all and got ready for cooking.
I chopped the greens into small pieces and boiled them for 10 minutes. Dandelion greens shrink a lot so pick more than you think you will need. After boiling, I drained them and tossed them in a hot skillet with some sauted onion and garlic. I added a bit of cooked bacon as well, yummy!
As for the flower tops, we washed and dried them. Then in a large ziplock bag, mixed wholewheat four, eggs salt and milk until I had a nice looking batter. I then added all the flowers to the zip loc and squished it all around until everything was well mixed. I them added each flower top to a pan of very hot oil. Make sure not to over crowd the pan . Dandelions cook very fast, so stay next to the pan, swirl them around as they fry. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon on to paper towels or a paper bag. Sprinkle with salt and ENJOY! We all loved them very much.
Even Michael, who was very skeptical at first enjoyed our dandelion dinner. We ended up with a LOT of left over fried dandelion flowers, so Im sending some of those to school with daphne today.
Next time you are at a loss for a veggie to serve with dinner, keep in mind that dandelion greens are higher in just about every good thing than spinach, chard and similar greens. The flavor is closest to mustard greens, but not nearly as bitter. The smallest greens can even be chopped and added to salads.