Recipe: Delicious, Nutritious Dandelion Greens

A relative of the sunflower, the humble dandelion packs a hefty nutritional punch as a spring tonic: it supports digestion, reduces swelling and inflammation, and is used by herbalists to treat skin conditions like eczema and acne. One cup of raw dandelion greens out-performs broccoli in Vitamins A and K, besides being rich in calcium and iron.Dandelion greens add a nice bite to a spring salad, and can be used exactly as you would bok choy or other greens.

Here's a lovely Italian-flavored recipe:

3 pounds dandelion greens, tough lower stems discarded and leaves cut crosswise into 2-inch pieces 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3- 5 large garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Cook greens in a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water, uncovered, until ribs are tender. Depending on your taste, this can take from 5 to 10 minutes. Drain in a colander, then rinse under cold water to stop cooking and drain well, gently pressing out excess water.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic and red-pepper flakes, stirring, until pale golden, about 45 seconds. Increase heat to medium-high, then add greens and sea salt and sauté until coated with oil and heated through, about 4 minutes.  Serve with lemon wedges.

Click Here for a print-friendly version of this recipe.