The Dandelion

Apr 29

Dandelion Dilemma

I think it’s safe to say that dandelions are shunned by virtually all homeowners here in the Midwest and for good reason. This brightly colored weed can take over a carefully groomed lawn in no time at all. Just when you think you’ve evicted them all, more appear. Every spring the battle to eliminate the army of impending dandelions launches in full force. The fight has already begun here at our home at Silvertooth. As soon as it appears we have won, more dandelions have begun to pop up in our rock beds and along our white fence. Without a doubt, we have entered into the season of the dandelion dilemma.

As the fight of these dandelions at our home commences, I also have been thinking a lot about how I wish I had more flowers around the house (plans for more flower beds are underway). Maybe that is why I just can’t look past the fact that this weed is in fact a flower… and an edible one! Did you know that the entire dandelion plant is edible from its flowers and leaves all the way down to the roots? In effort to redeem this plants existence I decided to take it to the kitchen. It turns out, dandelions have numerous health benefits such as being rich in antioxidents. I’m not a health expert but from what I’ve read, I am certainly impressed by this mostly-hated weed. What a treasure I found!

*Use caution: do not use dandelions treated with pesticides. Since our lawn has been treated, I gathered my flowers from an empty field instead.

Edible Flowers & Uses

In my article Candied Pansies, I share my love for edible flowers and their many uses. “I absolutely love using edible flowers- they bring such a beautiful, unexpected pop of color when they appear on a plate or used to garnish drinks. Each variety of edible flower varies on flavor from mild onion to aromatic to sweet. My favorite flowers to use for savory dishes are chives and pansies for sweets such as cakes and pastries. Experiment with flavors on your own with the following edible flowers.” Other edible flowers include:

Chamomile
Chrysanthemums
Chive
Dandelion
English Daisy
Gladiolus
Impatients
Lilac
Marigold
Lavender
Rose

There are endless possibilities of uses with edible flowers. They can be used fresh, dried, frozen or even candied (as I demonstrate here). We love sprinkling garden salads with fresh purple chive flowers in the spring. Dried rose petals sprinkled on cakes gives a beautiful pop of color. Lavender frozen into ice cubes puts specialty drinks onto a whole new level.

I’ll certainly be doing more experiments with dandelions now that I’ve learned how healthy they are!

Dandelion Flower Tea

Dandelion tea can be made from the flowers, leaves, roots or a combination of the three. Here, I used the flowers only in order to keep the pretty yellow color and mild flavor. Dandelion flower tea is mildly sweet and refreshing like other herbal teas. Watch the video below to watch the process.

Ingredients

10 flower heads (or 1/2 cup loosely packed flower heads)
8oz boiling water
Sweetener of choice

Instructions

Pick dandelions from an untreated location to insure the blooms are pesticide free.
Gently rinse flowers to remove any dirt and critters.
Cut or pull off the yellow petals and discard the green base which will make the tea bitter.
Add flower petals to boiling water and let steep for 10-15 minutes.
Strain the petals from the water.
Add honey or simple syrup to sweeten.
Drink hot or add ice if you like it cold.
Garnish with a lemon wedge, a whole dandelion flower and pretty straw.

Cheers!

Dandelion Garnishes

There are countless ways to use dandelion flowers. Here I took store-bought cupcakes and elevated them by garnishing the cupcakes with fresh dandelion flowers. If I had time I would have made dandelion cupcakes and mix dandelion petals into a buttercream frosting for an extra sprinkle of yellow. You could also add dandelion petals to a garden salad for an unexpected pop of color. And don’t forget to garnish your dandelion tea with a fresh dandelion flower as well! What a pretty little things they turned out to be.