Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Its a weed! Kill it!

Yes, it is a weed now, but maybe 50 years ago or even 60 years ago, the Dandelion was grown for culinary use.  They are thought to have evolved into their present state 30 million years ago and most of the world has always used them as food and as an herb.


Now, what can you do with them?  Well, you treat it like any other green, like spinach, mustard, or collard.  In this bunch, I did two things.  First off, I boiled them all in water for about 15 minutes, to make them as tender and cooked spinach.  Still a bit crisp.  Then I took the first handful and added it to a hot pan that already had some garlic and oil in it.  I added some red pepper flakes and came out with a spicy and tangy dish.

I then took the next batch, the last of the greens, and threw them in a pan, that had already some black forest bacon, onions and garlic cooking in it.  I sauteed the greens with everything and even included some extra greens, some frisee'.  I then plopped it all on plate where I took that coveted bacon grease and made me a quick dressing with some red wine vinegar.  The dish was super tasty as the acid from the bacon grease went well with the tangy dandelion greens. 

For anyone that may be interested in any recipes or ideas, please let me know.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum

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