I picked up some delicious *looking* dandelion greens at Whole Foods the
other day. We love greens but have not had those before. I blanched
them first, tossed off the water, and then sauteed them briefly with
some garlic & shallot but they were still horribly bitter. Blech.

Does anyone have a non-bitter way of fixing them or is this just typical
of all dandelion greens?

Emma

On Mar 2, 12:28�pm, Emma Thackery > wrote:
> I picked up some delicious *looking* dandelion greens at Whole Foods the
> other day. *We love greens but have not had those before. *I blanched
> them first, tossed off the water, and then sauteed them briefly with
> some garlic & shallot but they were still horribly bitter. *Blech.
>
> Does anyone have a non-bitter way of fixing them or is this just typical
> of all dandelion greens?

Only the very center young leaves of the rosette before they develop
hairs are really edible, if one is so inclined, the rest are fine for
dandelion wine. I once spent an entire rainy morning collecting the
young leaves... blech... compost heap.

"Sheldon" > wrote in message
ups.com...
On Mar 2, 12:28?pm, Emma Thackery > wrote:
> I picked up some delicious *looking* dandelion greens at Whole Foods the
> other day. We love greens but have not had those before. I blanched
> them first, tossed off the water, and then sauteed them briefly with
> some garlic & shallot but they were still horribly bitter. Blech.
>
> Does anyone have a non-bitter way of fixing them or is this just typical
> of all dandelion greens?

Only the very center young leaves of the rosette before they develop
hairs are really edible, if one is so inclined, the rest are fine for
dandelion wine. I once spent an entire rainy morning collecting the
young leaves... blech... compost heap.

You don't make dandelion wine with the leaves. It's made from the flowers
with no part of the green.


Ms P

In article >,
"ms_peacock" > wrote:

> On Mar 2, 12:28?pm, Emma Thackery > wrote:
> > I picked up some delicious *looking* dandelion greens at Whole Foods the
> > other day. We love greens but have not had those before. I blanched
> > them first, tossed off the water, and then sauteed them briefly with
> > some garlic & shallot but they were still horribly bitter. Blech.
> >
> > Does anyone have a non-bitter way of fixing them or is this just typical
> > of all dandelion greens?
>
> Only the very center young leaves of the rosette before they develop
> hairs are really edible, if one is so inclined, the rest are fine for
> dandelion wine. I once spent an entire rainy morning collecting the
> young leaves... blech... compost heap.
>
> You don't make dandelion wine with the leaves. It's made from the flowers
> with no part of the green.

Ah ha! Thanks for clueing me in. None of these leaves had any hairs,
btw, but they were quite large/long nonetheless.

Emma

In article . com>,
"Sheldon" > wrote:

> On Mar 2, 12:28?pm, Emma Thackery > wrote:
> > I picked up some delicious *looking* dandelion greens at Whole Foods the
> > other day. ?We love greens but have not had those before. ?I blanched
> > them first, tossed off the water, and then sauteed them briefly with
> > some garlic & shallot but they were still horribly bitter. ?Blech.
> >
> > Does anyone have a non-bitter way of fixing them or is this just typical
> > of all dandelion greens?
>
> Only the very center young leaves of the rosette before they develop
> hairs are really edible, if one is so inclined, the rest are fine for
> dandelion wine. I once spent an entire rainy morning collecting the
> young leaves... blech... compost heap.

Thanks, I'll be avoiding them in the future. Live & learn...

"Emma Thackery" > wrote in message
...
>
> I picked up some delicious *looking* dandelion greens at Whole Foods the
> other day. We love greens but have not had those before. I blanched
> them first, tossed off the water, and then sauteed them briefly with
> some garlic & shallot but they were still horribly bitter. Blech.
>
> Does anyone have a non-bitter way of fixing them or is this just typical
> of all dandelion greens?
>
> Emma


They're less bitter when they mature in cooler weather. Pick your own, if
you've got them in your lawn, and you don't spray any chemicals on the lawn.
In early spring, they're very mild, and can be added to salads. What little
bitterness there is can be counterbalanced with a sweet dressing, like
raspberry vinaigrette, or balsamic vinegar.