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WHAT'S NEW
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Andrew's ingredient of the month -- Dandelion
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To some they're the scourge of the garden, to others a blessing. If you don't already love these slightly bitter greens, you're in for a surprise. Wild or cultivated, dandelion greens are a delicious, versatile and exceptionally healthy vegetable.
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By Andrew Chase, Homemakers Magazine Food editor
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Until this year, when I introduced a dog into our backyard, you could typically find me digging up the tender early spring dandelion plants before their blossoms opened. I wasn't ridding the lawn and garden of a pest, but I was enjoying the first harvest of the season.
Personally, I've never understood why dandelions are considered such a blight, since their yellow blossoms are beautiful and one of the earliest flowers. I realize they spread like crazy, but why not thin their ranks with harvesting, rather than weed control? With many municipalities beginning to ban pesticide use on lawns, now is a great time to begin picking.
When to dig up your dandelions
One of the most widespread plants in the world, the serrated leaves of dandelions (the name comes from the French "dent de lion" or lion's tooth) have been nourishing world cuisine for centuries, if not millennia.
The leaves must be harvested before flowering or they will be too bitter (you can harvest older plants in the fall after a frost, which is said to kill the bitterness -- I, personally, haven't tried this yet). Furthermore, since the 19th century, cultivated dandelion has been available, stretching the season. It is readily available on grocery store produce racks and generally available year-round in health and natural food stores. It is less bitter but not as tender as the wild variety. Look for stalks with tender stems. There are green- and red-leafed varieties, some with long and some with short stems. I find the shorter the stem, the better; and the lighter the green leaves, the more tender and sweet.
How to cook dandelions
If you haven't eaten dandelion before, and are not familiar with its cousin, cultivated chicory (a favourite Italian vegetable), it is best to eat it cooked, at first. Blanch dandelion greens in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender, then drain well. You can anoint them with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle on salt and a little lemon juice and enjoy them warm or cold as the Greeks do (bitter greens -- usually dandelion or curly endive in Canada or chicory or any number of wild greens in Greece -- are collectively called "horta").
Blanched greens are wonderful when sauteed in olive oil and garlic or gently warmed in butter and finished with a splash of lemon. They also can be chopped and creamed like spinach or chard or used for savoury pie fillings. I try to enjoy them at least once a season in a cheese-topped gratin, bubbling hot out of the oven to be eaten with crusty bread and a glass of Sauvignon blanc.
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