Herbs As Food: Dandelion Fritters!

Dandelion Fritters 

It’s springtime in Colorado! And with spring comes lots of gorgeous blooming flowers. Most prolific of those? The dandelion. Though a weed to some, the dandelion serves many purposes in the spring. It’s early blooming makes it great food for the bees just waking and butterflies passing through. And yes, for we humans, the dandelion can be medicinal too (and quite simply just a tasty snack). 

Provided it was harvested from an area free from any pesticide use (this is VERY IMPORTANT!), all parts of the dandelion are edible. The best springtime use of this plant is its fresh new green leaves. In the earliest spring, the greens are the first parts of the plant to grow and are full of the plant’s most vital energy. Feel free to pick these new greens and eat them raw in salads or in meals where you would typically place a lettuce leaf. This is a great choice for folks with a robust constitution that can tolerate raw foods and greens in the warmer weather seasons. Greens can also be sauted into quiches, omelettes, and stir fries. This is a great choice for folks with a more delicate constitution who need warmer gentler foods on the stomach to aid digestion. 

As the season goes on, the greens turn more and more bitter. They are still edible at this phase! But their medicinal use shifts a bit to being less invigorating and nourishing and more of a digestive aid (think medicinal bitters here). In addition, as the flowers start to bloom, the energy and nutrients of the plant shift from going into the leaves (already full grown) and are transferred and stored now in the flowers. 

This is the PERFECT time to make Dandelion Fritters!!!! 

What are dandelion fritters? Well, think about pancake battered dandelion flowers as pictured above. They are a sweet healthy and tasty treat that folks of all ages enjoy. This is an especially great project for little ones to join in with you in cooking. They will enjoy all steps of the way-especially the eating part! 

The flowers of a dandelion are interesting. They open and close with the sun. Therefore, very early morning and late afternoon are not the best times to pick them as they will be already closing up. Late morning and midday are prime picking time for these blooms when they are wide open soaking up the sun’s energy. Also important to note, dandelion flowers must be used immediately after they are picked-no overnight storage for these guys-or they turn into the white fluff ball we’re used to seeing blowing in the wind. Definitely NOT a texture one wants in one’s mouth. Therefore, dandelions are good reminders for us to notice our first signs of hunger and harvest and prepare at that time. 

(DISCLAIMER: please consult a physician before beginning a new dietary regime. This blog is not to be considered a professional diagnostic or treatment plan. Please consult a professional for your own specific health needs and concerns.)

So if you want to join in on some dandelion fritter fun, here’s the simple “how to’s”: 

Step 1: Pick the dandelions. As following the general rule for wild crafting (harvesting plants from the wild), please leave ⅔ of the plants you see for nature to use and to help the plant continue to proliferate. As dandelions are quite a prolific plant in most places, you needn't be too concerned about overharvesting it. However, I still try and leave ⅔ behind for our pollinator friends who are severely needing all the help they can get right now. Also, if little kids are helping? Make sure they pick the dandelion with longer stems. This will make it easier for little hands to safely stay far away from the heat source when cooking later.

Step 2: Wash and rinse them. Do this similar to how you wash lettuce greens. IF you are certain that your yard is fresh and clean without any possible contaminants (including animal pee), then go ahead and just blow them gently and glance carefully at the flowers to make sure they don’t have any little bugs crawling or sleeping underneath or inside the flowers. 

Step 3: Mix a thick pancake like batter consistency of flour, egg & milk. This can be a gluten free flour, egg substitute and dairy free milk substitute too! Whatever you normally cook a pancake like batter with completely works here! I don't tend to measure these things, but in short it’s about 1 egg, 1 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of milk to 2 cups of dandelions. You want the batter to be thin enough to not be too clumpy and thick enough to stick to the dandelion and not be super runny.

Step 4: Dip the flower face first into the batter. You might need to get a little messy here. The heads may not be fully covered so a little extra help scooping them around in the batter ensures they are nicely coated and ready to place on your skillet. 

Step 5: Warm oil in a pan or skillet that you usually cook pancakes in without too much stickiness. I always use cast iron-it adds extra iron fortification to foods cooked on it and if one has any tendency towards blood deficiency (like most vegans, vegetarians, and women of menstruating age in general are), cooking in cast iron is a great simple way to boost your strength and nourishment. When doing so, just add a little extra oil to help with the non-sticking aspect.

Step 6: Gently place battered dandelions face down in the pan. Here’s where the LONG stems are helpful if little kids are helping you cook. While holding the end of the longer stems, their little fingers can stay far from hot skillets as they place them on the skillet/pan. Please always supervise children around hot appliances. Accidents can and often do happen. And it’d be a much more enjoyable experience without a stinging burn to deal with. (In case a burn does happen, always keep a container of Ching Wan Hung handy. Ching Wan Hung is a GREAT Chinese Medicine topical burn ointment for first degree and some second degree burns. Feel free to message Kade to order one for your home-better to be safe than sorry!) 

Step 7: When they start to brown, flip ‘em over and push down on them with a spatula or fork to make sure the doughy batter gets fully cooked on both sides.

Step 8: When they’re fully cooked, flip ‘em BACK over to face down again and you can slice off the extra stems (or keep ‘em on-they won’t hurt ya! More crispy chewing for the wee ones! But I prefer them sliced closely and I give my stems to my chickens). 

Step 9: Using a fork or a spatula, scoop them onto a plate and let them cool. Then you can serve them as is-or drizzled with a little honey (my favorite way to eat them-honey adds a gentle sweetness which for those with Spleen deficiency, is just the right amount to aid digestive ability too. If one has a tendency to easily gain weight and be phlegmy in the sinuses, leave off the honey part and eat them as is)...and you’ve got yourself a GREAT mid morning or early afternoon snack!!!

All of this from picking to gathering supplies to eating takes about 10-15 minutes tops! It’s really a super quick and fun snack to make that is nourishing for your health and uses the abundance of nature right in your backyard! 

Although many herbalist traditions utilize dandelion in their herbal remedies, here’s a bit about dandelions from a chinese medicine perspective: 

Pu Gong Ying (taraxacum spp. Herba. Common name: dandelion leaf and flower) is cold, bitter and sweet and travels to the Liver and Stomach meridians. It is a medicinal used to clear heat, remove toxicity and remove dampness. It supports the wood element and liver’s health, promotes healthy digestion, benefits a healthy fluid balance in the body, promotes bile secretion and benefits the urinary system. It should be used with caution and under Dr. supervision if pregnant or nursing. In addition, if eaten in excess it can lead to loose bowels. 

Although we Westerners are used to hearing single herbs prescriptions for 1:1 correlations with symptoms like “take echinacea for colds or ginger is good for digestion”, from a CM perspective, most herbs are not used medicinally in isolation. In addition, they are not even prescribed for a symptom, but only after a whole body medical intake and thorough diagnosis is made. It is then through the combination of the properties of the herbs in specific measured doses that the medicine is created. Therefore, while eating dandelion fritters or leaves or shoots while it is by no argument a super health nourishing food, it is not necessarily medicinal in the quantity or preparation utilized. This doesn't mean you can snack on them in excessive amounts without consequence!!! Similar to ANY food item we eat, it must be done in a healthy balance for our body. However, most likely at the rate your common backyard dandelions are blooming, you can still have fun making and eating these afternoon snacks and rest assured that you are enjoying a new healthy addition to your diet. I hope you enjoy!