A Wildly Delicious Dandelion Appetizer

Don’t hate the dandelions in your yard. Eat them instead.

I had to run out the door in a flash a few days ago, yelling, “Stop! Stop!” to my husband who held a spray bottle of weed killer in his hands. He looked at me and said, “I’m going to spray the dandelions — what’s the matter?”

I waved my hands in the air, “Nooooo — that’s a special patch of dandelions I’m growing for an appetizer next week. Trust me — you’ll love it.”

You should have seen his face. But he left my dandelions alone.

OK — I know your eyebrows are probably raised. Dandelions? Has she lost her mind?

Listen, oh-doubting-one — dandelions, if picked at the right time from a safe area (not from parks or roadsides where they may have been sprayed with chemicals) are absolutely delicious. So there.

You’re probably like how I used to be. I was raised to dig them out, mow them down, and spray weed killer on them.

But yet, every single part of the dandelion is edible. That’s why at your local grocery store they charge anywhere from $5.00–8.00 a pound for them. Oh yes, they do.

The pioneers would anxiously await dandelions as they were the first edible greens of spring. So I’m not the only one who has ever been dandelion obsessed.

The leaves are amazing in salads. They are slightly bitter and are similar to arugula. You can sautee the crowns (a densely packed circle of small leaves that are just about to produce the yellow flower) with olive oil and garlic and serve it as a vegetable. The roots can be roasted and ground as a substitute for coffee. (I haven’t gone that far yet.)

A few years ago I found a recipe in The Boreal Feast by Michele Genest— for Dandelion and Goat Cheese Bruschetta and as soon as I finished reading the recipe I flew out the door to forage in my back yard.

And then I made it for lunch three days in a row.

Dandelion and Chevre Bruschetta

Adapted from The Boreal Feast by Michele Genest

Serves 4–6

1 lb dandelion leaves

1/3 cup pine nuts

4 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1 baguette, sliced into thin slices

1 tbsp olive oil

4 1/2 oz chevre (goat cheese)

1. Cut the leaves off about 1 inch above the base of the plant.

Wash leaves several times to ensure there’s no dirt left on them.

Shake leaves and wrap them in a tea towel for a minute to absorb moisture.

Chop the stems off the leaves and discard. Then chop the leaves coarsely and reserve.

2. Toast pine nuts in a dry cast iron pan over medium-low heat until golden. Peel garlic and dice finely. Heat olive oil in the same pan over low-medium-low heat; saute garlic.

3. In the same oil, saute dandelion greens until wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the cooked garlic and keep warm.

4. Toast baguettes in the oven under the broiler — about 1 minute per side. Brush one side with olive oil. (Or throw them in the toaster and brush olive oil on afterward.)

5. Spread baguette slices with chevre. Pile dandelion greens over the chevre. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Serve at once.

Author’s note: My husband doesn’t spray dandelions anymore — he’s a convert!

Thanks for reading! I have loads of food essays (delicious recipes too) and thoughtful and quirky simpler living essays waiting for you. (Well over 100 of them!) And this story caught the attention of NBC News In New York!