Now, some of you might be thinking that I have totally lost my marbles and hey, you might be right! But not because I look for dandelions. Dandelions have been considered the scourge of spring and summer for far too long, not enough people know what a great thing they have growing right out there in their yard. They spray poisons on them to get rid of them and why do they do this? Many years ago someone decided it was more pleasing to have their lawns symmetrical, all the grass has to be of the same variety, the same height, the same color, perfectly manicured. Dandelions don't fit into that vision. They are green, sure, but what about those obnoxious yellow flowers? They certainly do not fit into the "boxed lawn" view. Well, I'm here to tell you that those lawns are not my idea of a great lawn. Mine is a sea of yellow dandelions, purple and white wild violets and purple creeping charlie flowers, varying colors of green.
I'm going to focus on dandelions now. First the technical details:
Botanical Name: Taraxacum Officinale
Root System: Taproot
Leaf System: Basal Rosettes
Reproduction: Seed and Root pieces
Family: Aster
Description:
Dandelion flowers are probably one of the most identifiable flowers out there. They are a bright, sunny yellow, they can get to be as much as 2 inches across and they sit on top of hollow stems that grow straight up from the plant base and can be as tall as 20 inches. When the flowers ripen they turn into grayish white colored puff balls that have the seeds attached at the ends. The seeds are dispersed by wind. [1]
Dandelion leaves grow in what is known as "basal rosette" which simply means that the leaves grow out flat at the base of the plant and form a circle around the base. They are very deeply lobed in most species and have pointed "teeth" at the points of the lobes. Some varieties are less deeply lobed than others and in some, the lobes point backwards toward the base.
The dandelion has a taproot for a root system, that means it has one, large, tapered root that sometimes has smaller roots coming off of it. Older plant roots will separate at the head of the tap root forming a second or even third plant. The older the plant, the more "extra" plants will grow off of the taproot. The root itself has a dark outer skin and a light, whitish yellow inner flesh. There is a white, milky substance within the root. This milk is pretty bitter tasting but if you can tolerate bitter, it's really not too bad tasting.
The name "dandelion" comes from the French 'dent de lion' meaning 'lion's tooth'. [2]
Dandelions are everywhere, you can find them in yards, empty lots, roadsides, parks and woodlands, finding some to eat should not be a problem. Wait! EAT? Are you kidding? Nope, I'm not kidding, I love eating dandelion flowers right from the ground (I don't recommend eating them straight from the ground because they can contain dirt, bugs or even poisons from weed sprays but I eat from my own yard where I know what is there) I like to pull the yellow petals out of the green calyx and eat them as they are but there are recipes for dandelion flowers out there that are amazing also, I'll give you one of my favorite recipes shortly. I don't care so much for the bitter leaves and stems so I have alternative ways of eating those, again, I'll give you a good recipe for those too. Many people say that if you get the greens early in the spring when they are just babies that they won't be bitter. In my experience, this is not true. They are always bitter but there are ways around that. You can boil them, pour off the water and boil them again, they would then be similar to boiled spinach and the bitterness will be significantly decreased. You can sautee them in bacon fat. You can also put a few of them into your salad with other lettuces and vegetables.
Are you ready for the recipes? Here you go!
Dandelion Fritters (I got this recipe from: http://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/dandelion-fritters/ )
2 cups of prepared dandelions (prepared means bracts and stems removed, washed thoroughly)
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup milk
1tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 egg
large amount of high heat oil
sea salt to taste
Mix the dry ingredients together then add the egg, combine well
Dip the flower blossoms in the batter coating both sides
Fry in hot oil until golden brown
Cool slightly on paper towels
Now what to do with the greens? Make a smoothie!
This is my own recipe.
Dandelion smoothie:
1 cup packed dandelion greens
1 apple cored
1 orange peeled and sectioned
put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth
You can add distilled water if the original is too thick.
You can also add more fresh fruit or substitute other fruits.
Okay, great, we can eat the dandelions but how healthy are they? Well, they have a ton of vitamins, minerals and even fiber in them like vitamin C, beta carotene (our bodies convert that to vitamin A), they have phosphorous, zinc, magnesium and calcium. That's a lot of good stuff for a weed. I've had some people ask me if there is a negative side to dandelions, my answer is always "sure there is", the world revolves around balance, if there are positives there has to be negatives. The negatives to dandelions are actually quite small. Anyone taking medication for hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) should avoid dandelion since it helps to lower blood sugar, if your blood sugar is already regulated then dandelions could drop it too low causing more problems. Also, some people are allergic to the white sap that dandelions contain, if you come into contact with the sap and find yourself itchy or getting an irritation, it's best to avoid them since the sap is in every part of the plant. Dandelion contains a type of fiber called inulin, there are some people that are allergic to this type of fiber and should avoid ingesting dandelion.
We know, now, that dandelions can be eaten and are healthy, the next question is "What can dandelions do for us?" Dandelions can be used for many things, for example, they are good for bone health, liver, diabetes, urinary problems, acne, weight loss, jaundice, gall bladder issues, constipation, high blood pressure and anemia. Another awesome fact is that dandelions contain high levels of antioxidants, vitamin C and luteolin which can help reduce your risk of cancer. Luteolin actually binds to prostate cancer cells and makes them unable to reproduce and renders them completely ineffectual. That's great!
What about acne? Well, acne is more a symptom than a disease in itself. Acne indicates there could be any one of several issues going on inside your body. A hormone imbalance, an overly fatty diet, too much stress (who doesn't have that??!!), so we want to treat not only the outward signs (the pimples) but also the inward cause(s). Dandelions can do both. Drinking dandelion juice will detox your body, it's also a diuretic, stimulant and antioxidant, they help your body regulate your hormones. Externally you can apply the sap to the blemishes themselves. The sap can stop microbial infections which reduces the signs of acne (pimples be gone!). [3]
These are just a few of the amazing things that dandelions can do for us, for more information on anything in this post, please see the references listed below and Thank you so much for reading about dandelions!
References:
[1] http://www.turf.uiuc.edu/weed_web/descriptions/dandelion.htm
[2] http://www.herballegacy.com/Chhabra_History.html
[3] /www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-dandelion.html
