Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is one of these plants which everybody knows about but hardly anyone appreciates, especially if they grow in gardens or on lawns, where they are promptly disposed of as weeds. Which is no way to treat this marvellous, edible and medicinal plant! Amazingly, all parts of dandelions are edible – although I do not recommend eating the seed heads; too much fluff! Blow on them in your garden on a windy day for fun instead, to spread the seeds.
There are a couple of lookalike wild plants flowering at the same time: Flatweed/Catsear (Hypochaeris radicata)and Sowthistle (Sonchus spp.) being the ones most commonly confused with dandelion. While edible, these plants do not have the same medicinal properties. A true dandelion can be recognised by the following:
- Shape: leaves grow in a rosette from a taproot – no stems with leaves
- Leaf shape: smooth, thin, no hair, deeply serrated edge (which is where the French name “lion’s tooth” dent-de-lion comes from).
- Flower stem: single, unbranched, hollow, smooth – no hair
- Flower: only one flower per stem (there could be several flower stems growing from one plant).
- Latex: broken stems and leaves produce white, thick sap
The plant is full of nutrients, with the most important being vitamins A and K, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Dandelion has multiple medicinal uses: it is a known diuretic, blood cleanser, stimulates production of stomach acid and bile. Chopped and lightly boiled leaves are used as a face mask on acne-prone skin.
***If you harvest plants from public land, make sure the soil there is not contaminated with chemicals (such as glyphosate or firefighting foam residue), lead or animal faeces***
Let me show you what I make from dandelions I cultivate in my garden amongst trees, shrubs and perennials of the food forest. Maybe you will learn to love them as I do!
Leaves
Dandelion leaves are bitter tasting and an important part of an Italian wild green salad together with other bitter, sweet and also sour plants. Best time to collect: Spring and Summer.
To reduce the bitterness, they can be lightly blanched in boiling water and added to salads or used as replacement for spinach. But I prefer to ferment them (often mixed with other greens) because with no heat processing there is no loss of nutrients.
Fermented green paste
When dandelions flower, there are also many other plants which produce the first spring growth at the same time. I like to ferment young dandelion and nettle leaves for a “green vitamin bomb”, inspired by Pascal Baudar. I use whatever greens I have at hand: cilantro, dandelion, dill, parsley, nettles, fennel, some chickweed.
- After weighting the greens, I add grated ginger at the 1/4 of their weight.
- Per each 200 g of this mix add 2 grated cloves of garlic and 5 g of fine salt.
- Use flavourings such as chili flakes, grated lime peel, powdered smoked paprika etc.
- Chop the leaves finely (I use a blender), add grated ginger and garlic
- Add salt, mix well, put in a large bowl and squeeze and press with your hands (like when making sauerkraut) until abundant liquid appears.
- Pack everything into sterilized jars (use the ones with rubber seals and metal springs)
- leave on the kitchen counter for about 2 weeks (don’t open!), then store in a pantry. After opening the jar it needs to be refrigerated (if there is any paste left…).
- The paste is fantastic on sandwiches, with boiled eggs, cheeses, yoghurt, added to grilled meat or to soups.
Flowers
There are many ways to use the flowers, from eating them in salads, making wine, to dehydrating and powdering them to make a yellow dye. Fully opened flowers should be collected on a sunny day, preferably in the Spring.
Dandelion Salve
I make a rich, nutritious and anti-inflammatory salve from dandelion flowers and powdered black turmeric rhizomes. It repairs and refreshes dry and damaged skin, helps to soothe arthritic and muscular pain. I usually rub it on my hands, it’s a perfect treatment for a gardener!
How to make it:
- Pick fresh flower heads, spread them on clean paper and leave for a couple of hours. This allows all little creatures to leave and moisture to evaporate a bit.
- Measure the volume of flowers and add olive oil at twice the volume (I also added 2 tablespoons of powdered black turmeric per 500 ml)
- Put all in a double boiler, bring water in the bottom pot to boil and keep it simmering for 2 hours.
- Strain the oil through muslin. You could use the oil, or thicken it with beeswax to make an ointment:
- Add 16 g of grated beeswax per each 100 ml of hot dandelion oil, mix well to dissolve the wax.
- Put the pot with the hot mixture in a bowl of cool water and keep mixing using a stick blender until it thickens.
- Transfer the ointment to small, clean jars with lids. Stores for a year in a fridge.
Roots
Roots are the most valuable material obtained from dandelion, with a high concentration of minerals and strongest medicinal qualities. They should be collected in Autumn/Winter when the plant is dormant, then dried for long storage.
Dehydrating roots
- Clean the roots in water with a brush (try not to remove the thin skin which is tan-coloured – the flesh is white) until all soil is removed. Or almost all 😊 You can cut off the thinnest side roots.
- Pat the roots dry and grate on a coarse grater, chop the smallest bits you cannot grate. You can also use a food processor set for chopping.
- Spread chopped roots on a flat surface and leave to dry. I do this in a dehydrator, but if you don’t have one, use an oven or a room heater.
Roasting dandelion roots
- Spread a thin layer of chopped and dried roots on a baking tray.
- Heat an oven to about 150-180 degrees Celsius.
- Put the tray in the oven for about 30 minutes (or longer, if you like the dandelion well roasted), but keep checking and mixing the pieces, so they roast evenly and don’t burn.
- They should smell a bit like roasted coffee – when they are done to your liking, remove the tray and put the roasted roots in a dry jar with an airtight lid.
You could also powder the roots before storing them if that’s your thing.
I like to make a “dandy chai” infusion, to make one cup add the following:
- 1 teaspoon of roasted dandelion roots
- 1 teaspoon of dried rose petals
- 2 cardamom seeds
- 2 cloves
- a pinch of cinnamon
Put all in a tea strainer in your favourite teacup, add boiling water, cover with a lid, let it steep for at least 5 minutes. After drinking the chai, you can reuse the mix for a second time!
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You can tell dandelion is one of my favourite herbs and I use every part of the plant!
Dandelion’s usefulness extends beyond human consumption. Like many so called “weeds” it is a pioneering plant, growing in disturbed areas. Its long taproots break compacted and clay soils and create channels for water and air to penetrate deeper into the soil.
The bright yellow flowers attract pollinators into meadows and gardens.
And last, but not least, dandelions are great natural toys! I spend hours as a child making floral wreaths, chains from stems and blowing every seed head I could see 🙂