I find it a weird mix of sad and amusing that our current culture spends so much time killing dandelions. These nonnative lettuce relatives werebrought to the United States from Europefor their very useful purposes as food and medicine.
In a great stroke of what now seems irony, the grass was torn out of areas to make room for valuable dandelion plants. Even the Latin name (Taraxacum officinale)translates to “official cure for disorders” which gives a clue to the esteem this weed once held.
2020 though it may be, we are still influenced by previous decades of propaganda that assigned the use of plants like dandelion an undesirable, low-class connotation. We’ve fallen into a fabricated middle-class ideal of having anunmarred, useless lawnof green to compare with the Joneses’ next door. Now we poison and rip dandelion out of the lawn as we kowtow to the HOAs, replacing food plants with turf that no one eats.
Time to flip the tables again, and take advantage of the free gift that dandelion offers spring after spring, even though we’ve spent millions of dollars and many hours fruitlessly trying to spray it into oblivion.
如果你对觅食完全陌生,蒲公英可能是最容易和最安全的植物。慷慨的蒲公英,从花到叶再到根,每一处都是安全的,可食用的,给你广泛的材料玩耍和口味。
Related Post:Why You Should Keep Your Dandelions
Dandelion tea is one of the easiest ways to enjoy both the epicurean and health benefits of a mess of dandelions. But you’re not limited to one type of dandelion tea. You can easily make several different and totally delicious concoctions from different parts of the plant.
So grab a basket, set a pot of water to heat, and let’s go turn some unloved lawn weeds into locally-harvested and organic craft beverages that even the most snobbish of foodies would be interested in sampling.
Foraging Dandelion Safely
As I just mentioned, dandelion itself is one of the safest plants to forage — it’s pretty much unmistakable! If you feel shaky about recognizing it in the field, however, its persistent ubiquity will ensure that it is present in any flower identification book you read.
蒲公英和它的近亲在破裂时总是会表现出乳白色的乳胶。它会从茎叶中渗出。叶子和茎长在基部的莲座丛中,这意味着它们都连接到地面的一个单一中心点。
这些植物的大小千变万化,既有从人行道裂缝里钻出来的矮小先锋,也有长在堆肥堆旁、用一英尺长的叶子轻轻向你招手的怪物。
Plants growing in shade tend to have broader, more erect, and less toothed leaves (that are much better tasting!) than those growing prostrate in direct, all day sunlight. You can harvest dandelions in any part of the year that you find them. The leaves are slightly better in the spring and the roots are somewhat better in the fall, but they are generally great all the time.
Dandelion Lookalikes
Now, you may think that identifying dandelion should be pretty easy, but there are actually a few plants often confused with it. Though the summer growing flowers are obviously different, spring chicory plants (Cicorium intybus) grow in an almost identical looking basal rosette. The spring growth of several wild lettuce species (Lactuca spp.) are also similar to an untrained eye. Hairy cat’s ears (Hypochaeris radicata) has a very dandelion-ish bloom as well.
But here’s the good news: All the lookalikes are similarly safe and edible. If you end up harvesting chicory roots along with your dandelion roots, or if you gather wild lettuce leaves in your basket of dandelion, you probably won’t taste the difference.
The most important thing to keep in mind about foraging dandelion isn’t the safety of the plant itself, but the safety of the environment where you’re foraging. Only harvest dandelion from areas you are absolutely assured haven’t been sprayed with herbicides.
Remember! Many people are still waging a chemical war against this generous plant, so don’t get caught in the crossfires of theirRoundup rampage. Public areas, roadsides, and neighborhood common places should all be avoided. It’s highly likely those places can be contaminated.
But when you have found a safe place, you can harvest with abandon. Dandelion is so persistent and so common, there’s little chance you’ll even make a dent in the local population. On gathering day, bring a digging tool like a Hori Hori knife so you can get the root as well as all the aerial parts. After harvesting the roots, be sure to return the soil and not leave a hole for someone else to trip over.
你可以只用蒲公英的花,叶子,根,或者把它们一起做成蒲公英茶。混合搭配和实验——你知道有很多蒲公英,所以不要害羞。对于这篇文章中的食谱,我们将专注于如何使用蒲公英的花和根来制作饮料,但在餐桌上使用蒲公英的机会也是多种多样的。
The leaves are an excellent tonic food, delicious stir-fried or formed into awild greens fritter. They are jam-packed with vitamins. Tender roots can be sautéed. Flowers can be batter-dipped and fried or baked on a pizza. And if you have any extra plant material at the end of the day, your chickens will happily clean up after you.
Dandelion Tea From the Blossoms
The instantly recognizable dandelion blossoms are edible raw or cooked and have a pleasant, bittersweet-flowery quality that blends well in a tea. When walking our fields in the spring and summer, I often gather handfuls of fresh dandelion blossoms and mix them with other edible flowers for a naturally sweet, complex, flavorful brew that’s excellent hot or cold.
Ingredients
- 1 handful fresh dandelion blossoms (roughly 8-10 flowers)
- Eastern beebalm blossoms or leaves
- Elderflower blossom
- Red clover blossoms
- Mint leaves of any species
- Lemon balm leaves
- Blackberry leaves
- Wild strawberry leaves
- Sassafras twigs or leaves
All of the ingredients (aside from the dandelion) are optional but may be blooming at the same time if you know where to look. Pick and choose at will.
Directions
- Shake the blossoms to make sure no living inhabitants accidentally hitchhiked into your kitchen.
- Pile them (and any other ingredients) into a big pot, pour 4 cups of cold water over tops, and cover. Bring the water to a near boil, then let sit and steep for 5 minutes.
- Strain the beautifully golden, resulting liquid into cups, add a teaspoon of honey — if desired — and sip.
- Alternately, strain the liquid, mix in 3 tablespoons of sweetener, and chill. Serve over ice with a fresh mint leaf or two for a wonderfully refreshing iced dandelion tea.
Roasted Dandelion Root Tea
If you’re trying to kick a coffee addiction, a caffeine-free dandelion tea may help you satisfy that roasty itch without giving you the twitch.
I detailed how to make an acorn coffee-substitute in anInsteading article here. Making a roasted dandelion tea follows much of the same process, but it’s easier.
Directions for Roasting Dandelion Root
- Head to the garden and dig up a mess of roots, and thoroughly wash them.
- Then dry them — you can either dry them whole or chop them into rounds. A dehydrator works, but you can also spread them on a tray to dry at room temperature for about a week or so.
- 干燥后,将根部烘烤。我建议在不烘烤的情况下将干的根茎磨碎,然后在煮之前先在平底锅里烘烤一小批试验性的根茎。这让你有机会弄清楚你喜欢的烤蒲公英的颜色有多深。一旦你对它有了感觉,你就可以在325华氏度的烤箱里烤一大堆土豆根,烤半小时到一小时不等——只要烤到你喜欢的熟度就行。
- Once cool, grind them all in a coffee grinder and breathe in the rich aroma.
每杯水需要1到3汤匙的草根。同样,你需要找到自己喜欢的比例。你可以试着用你的咖啡机冲泡“咖啡”,但我发现在炉子上慢煮五分钟,然后用茶滤器把浓稠的深色液体倒进我的杯子里,味道会更好。
You can enjoy the coffee-tea (cofftea?) straight, but it’s excellent with milk as well.
Dandelion Latte
This is one of my favorite concoctions. On a crisp, fall morning with winter squash curing in the yard, before the frost andfeathers from molting chickensare blowing in the breeze, nothing beats a steaming mug of this warm, comforting, and jitter-free brew.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons roasted dandelion root (see directions above)
- 1 tablespoon roasted dandelion root, 1 tablespoon roasted chicory root, 1 tablespoon hot-leached, roasted acorn flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 tablespoon sweetener (raw sugar, honey, or maple syrup are all good options)
- 1 cup milk of your choice
- Dash of salt (optional)
*Or sub in 1 tablespoon of roasted dandelion root, roasted chicory root, or hot-leached, roasted acorn flour
Directions
- Mix the roasted roots with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover and let steep for 5-8 minutes.
- Add all other ingredients, and bring back up to temperature, if needed. A good drinkable temperature is around 145 degrees Fahrenheit if you have a kitchen thermometer.
- Pour through a sieve or tea strainer into cups, and enjoy.
You can personalize this beverage even more if you want. Brew, strain into a blender, and then add a tablespoon or 3 of cocoa powder with the rest of the mix-ins, and blend until you have a frothy, fragrant, free-foraged mocha.
Cancel the vanilla and grind up some cardamom, cloves, fenugreek and fennel seeds, and a knob of sassafras root, and mix them into the brewing tea for a wild, caffeine-free masala chai.
Health Benefits and Effects of Dandelion Tea
Dandelion is rich invitamins and trace mineralsincluding iron, calcium, potassium, inulin, and vitamins A, B, C, and D — to name a few. Though bitter flavors aren’t really valued in U.S. diets (we ignore that end of the flavor spectrum at the cost of our health). Regularly eating bitter greens both increases the production of bile in the stomach and aids greatly in digestion.
Related Post:How To Make Dandelion Wine
蒲公英可以以几种方式作为药物使用,从使用乳胶治疗足底疣,到在每月的这个时候减少腹胀,到支持和刺激肝脏。使用蒲公英茶治疗超出了本文的范围,所以如果你对使用它治疗感兴趣,你需要继续自己研究。
What I will make sure you know, however, is that dandelion tea is diuretic — a kidney stimulator that allows the body to pass retained fluids. In layman’s terms? You’ll need to go to the bathroom. It’s no wonder the French name ispissenlit(roughly translated as pee the bed)!
所以走出去,试一试吧。使用蒲公英的方法有很多,你一定会找到至少一种喜欢的饮料。请在下面的评论中告诉我们你的美味调制。
Resources
- Nature’s Gardenby Samuel Thayer
- Herbal Folk Medicineby Thomas Broken Bear Squier
- Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs, A Beginner’s Guideby Rosemary Gladstar
- Thirty Plants That Can Save Your Life!by Douglas Schar
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