日本語のレシピは　ビーガン、ベジタリアン情報満載の　Hachidory から　ご覧下さい。

 

You may not be so familiar with the wild plants and not know the names of many of them.

But I guess many of you know this.

Dandelion.

Its bright yellow color and the way it blooms on the ground always brighten our hearts. 

What is good about dandelion is not only it pleases our eyes and hearts, it can be a free healthy food too ! 

Like the other types of green leafy vegetables, the leaves of the dandelion is rich in vitamins and minerals and the flowers have nectar.

The root has medicinal effects such as reducing inflammation, lowering blood pressure. 
It is also considered effective to increase the milk production for the mothers with newborn babies.   
When it is roasted, it can even turn to a substitute for coffee.

I am going to share a simple salad and dressing recipes using dandelion’s leaves and flowers with you today.

So try them if you have dandelions around your place.

In some parts the flowers may already have finished, but you can still make and enjoy this salad with leaves only.

There are two things you need to be careful when you pick up the dandelions in Japan.

The pesticides may be used for the ones found on the roadsides.  Therefore avoid picking up from the roadsides especially if you live in the busy town.

We usually can’t tell the difference from the glance, but there are non-native species and native species. 

Nowadays the non-native is dominant and the native one is scares.  This means the dandelions you are seeing are most likely non-native ones. 
If you encounter the native one by chance, try not to pick it up.

 Non-native dandelion. 

You can see the lower parts of the bract are bending backwards.

 

Native dandelion. 

You can see the bract is tight with no bending backwards parts.

 

 

 

Tampopo Salad タンポポサラダ / Dandelion Salad

For dressing

Ingredients 

(All desired amounts)

Leaves of dandelion – Remove the central fiber on the leaves, and then tear the leaves into bite sizes.

 Vegan mayonnaise

Procedures

1.    Blanch the dandelion leaves in a boiling water for 30 seconds.  Take them out into the cold water, and then drain.

 

2.    Blend the dandelion leaves and vegan mayonnaise in the blender.  If the mixture is too thick, add soymilk and loosen to desired texture.  Adjust the seasoning to your taste.

 

 

For Salad

Ingredients

(All desired amount)

Leaves of the dandelion – Remove the straight fiber on the center, and then tear the leaves into bite sizes.

Flowers of the dandelion with stems – Hold the stem of the dandelions, dip the flower parts in the water and shake the stem to wash the flowers.  Let the flowers dry.

Lettuce – Tear into bite sizes 

Newly harvested soft onion – Slice thinly

The seeds such as sesame, sunflower, pumpkin and flax – Roast and mash with the blener

Below are optional ingredients

Cherry tomato

Creamy Tofu cheese – Cut into cubes

 

Procedure

1.    Place all the vegetables prepared earlier in the ice water for five minutes.   Drain and remove excess water.   Keep it in the fridge if you are going to eat later.

2.    Transfer the vegetable to the serving bowl, scatter the petals of the dandelions, pour the dressing and sprinkle the mashed seeds over the vegetables.

 

With additional cherry tomato and tofu cheese

 

 Salad with additional pasta

 

 The lunch set with non-gluten bread, cherry tomatoes and
herbal tea of sun dried dandelion, Shokkasai / purple color wild spring flower, Yaezakura cherry blossoms and leaves.

 

 

I am introducing other dandelion recipes in my previous posts. 

If you are interested in learning more, visit those posts too.

Creamy Spring Pasta and some ideas

Potato mixed with Pest Giapponese

Happy cooking!