Eat the weeds!
Weeds are a great source of food. In fact, many of them, like Dandelions, were brought over to North America to be used as food. Early Romans documented eating dandelions and European settlers who came to America purposely brought dandelions with them to the new world for their high nutritional value, medicinal properties, and versatility as a food source. So don't nuke them with pesticides, eat them! Just make sure that you are picking only dandelions that have not been sprayed with any chemicals.
Every part of the dandelion including the leaves, flowers, and roots are edible, offering numerous culinary uses from spring to fall. The tender young leaves are excellent raw in salads or sautéed, while older leaves can be bitter and are best blanched or cooked. Flowers can be used in fritters, wines, and syrups, and the roots can be roasted for a coffee substitute!
Try this Dandelion Quesadilla Recipe below, it's an easy & delicious introduction to the many ways you can eat dandelions.
Dandelion Flower Quesadilla Recipe
Ingredients:
- Two flour burrito tortillas (or you can use corn tortillas and make mini quesadillas!)
- Refried Beans (enough to spread onto tortillas, usually 1/2-3/4 cup - you can also use drained black beans or pinto beans)
- Shredded Cheese (1/2-3/4 cup of your choice, we used Cheddar)
- Dandelion Flowers (1/2 cup - soak in water first to clean, and let dry)
- Green Onions (1/4 cup, greens and white parts diced, or use any onion desired)
- Garlic Chives (1 tablespoon, minced)
- Black Olives, optional (1/4 cup, sliced)
Directions:
Place tortilla on a large griddle pan, spread the beans, cheese, dandelion flowers, green onions and garlic chives. Cover with second tortilla, then heat on medium heat until one side is golden brown. Turn with a large spatula, and cook other side until golden brown. If desired, you can flip it one or two more times to make sure both sides are crisp, then remove to a cutting board, use a pizza cutter to slice into triangles. Serve with hot sauces, pico-de-gallo, salsas, or Mexican Coleslaw.
Variations: Add any toppings of your choice to quesadillas, you could add Cowboy Candy, sliced cabbage, shredded zucchini or squash, leaves of the dandelions, other herbs like cilantro or oregano. Get creative with your quesadillas! Just make sure not to pile up the ingredients too high, as it will be harder to flip and cut.
Serve up these quesadillas with spicy toppings like hot sauces, pico-de-gallo, salsas, or Mexican Coleslaw.
Speaking of eating the weeds...
Dandelions are not the only edible weed, you can also enjoy Purslane, Lamb's Quarters, Plantain and more.
Our web designer, Idelle, did a presentation for People and Pollinators Action Network's Webinar: "Edible Native Plants of Colorado" – this slide above is from the presentation, talking about eating the weeds. It is also good to plant native plants for your area in and around vegetable gardens to support native pollinators, birds and beneficial insects. View her Edible Native Plants of Colorado presentation »
Note: Make sure to properly identify weeds before eating them of course, and always eat in moderation. Look up foraging books and plant ID books for your area to help identify edible weeds and find more recipes and uses for them other than the compost bin.
Happy weeding and eating!
Happy growing!
