Dandelions are such an easy thing for the beginning forager to work with, every part of the dandelion is edible, and they are truly a powerhouse plant when it comes to nutrition. Seriously, it is hard to willingly grow a plant that is better for you than the dandelion.
The flower is an excellent source of vitamin A, C, and K. They can be cooked or eaten raw. The greens have a substation amount of minerals, including iron, and potassium. The root is a great source of fiber, among other things. You can learn more about the nutrition of dandelions here.
Our favorite way to use dandelions is in jelly. It tastes so much like a lemony honey. We love using it on toast, muffins, and cornbread.
One new recipe we tried this year was dandelion honey butter. I love this stuff. At first my kids were a little reluctant to try it because the flower petals are visible in the butter, but once they tasted it, every single one of the kids liked it. This is one we will keep making each year!
We also made dandelion lemonade. My kids really enjoyed this recipe, and it was very simple to make. I bought a large mason jar at walmart for making it in, which looks awesome, and stores really well in the fridge.
The recipe calls for honey, we did a mix of honey and sugar because I was a little low on honey at the time we made it. We also added a little extra sweetener and lemon to the recipe, to get it to the flavor we all liked. We added violet blooms to it as well.
We will be making a few more things with dandelions this year, so be watching for part three!
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