Forum home› Fruit & veg

Preparing Dandelion Leaves for Salad

jomacljomacl Posts: 18
in Fruit & veg
Hi hi,

I thought I would make a virtue out of necessity and put dandelions in a salad. Any tips on how to wash them? I'm worried the leaves will be covered in cat pee. 

Recipes also welcome! :D

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,189
    You need to blanch them - that means covering the young plant with a pot or something to exclude light, like forcing rhubarb.  This makes the foliage pale and juicy so less bitter and more tender.  You don't just pick it from any old plant and give it a wash. 
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 9,403
    In France they're known as Pissenlit aren't they @Obelixx :#
    Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,189
    Yes @wild edges as they have a diuretic effect.

    Widely sold in Feb and March as blanched salad leaves, just as they do with white and red chicons/endives for salad.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • jomacljomacl Posts: 18
    @Obelixx I had dandelion in a salad was in an auberge in Lozère, but I’ve never tried to do it myself. This sounds more involved than I bargained for, although I suppose if the plant is covered you don’t have to worry about cat pee. How long do you have to keep them covered for? Is it too late in the year to do this now?
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 21,769
    They will probably be bitter now. I've only seen the French picking them in very early spring well before flowering.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,409
    Personally, I just wander round the veg garden, which is where they grow best and pick a few tender leaves from the heart of each plant. Wash under the kitchen tap, shake and add sparingly to mixed salads.
    Our water is straight off the hill, unfiltered, untreated and we've been drinking it for nigh on 40 years without ill effect, so our systems can cope with a few unsterilised leaves :)
  • jomacljomacl Posts: 18
    @Busy-Lizzie, yes this seems to be a French phenomenon. @Buttercupdays, I like your style!
Sign In or Register to comment.