So on this marvelous day attending another of my friends Julie Taggart and Jane McKay’s wonderful workshops on wild edibles here in Truchas (see previous post Wild and Free: A Feast From the Land), we were preparing Dandelion Pesto with Zucchini Spaghetti for lunch. Whether or not you think this SOUNDS good, it was, indeed, very good. And dandelions are truly amazing in terms of the nutritional value they offer. This recipe is from Katrina Blair’s terrific cookbook, Local Wild Life, Turtle Lake Refuge’s Recipes for Living Deep:
Dandelion Pesto
Ingredients
1 cup cashews, pine nuts or walnuts
3 cups chopped dandelion greens
1/2 cup olive oil
3 cups basil or oregano
3 cups sorrel greens
3 cloves (Jane used extra) garlic
2 lemons juiced
1 tsp salt
1 cup divine water
Process and Thoughts
“Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.
Dandelion pesto is sensational over zucchini pasta, which is how it’s being served here. It can also be used as a spread or a dip for almost anything.
To prepare the pasta use a hand-crank spiralizing machine (found at any raw food store) or a cheese shredder…
…to magically make noodles from raw zucchini or other vegies (carrots, beets, pumpkins, and yams make good pasta too).
Nearly any fresh herb will make a tasty pesto. Try making an all wild pesto using just greens you find while foraging. Dandelion and wild mint, or wild mustard greens and wild onion, explore the combinations.
Wild greens are some of the most mineral rich foods on the planet. Just think: those greens wanted to grow exactly where they did. The conditions for their own nourishment were perfect and now they will pass these nutrients on to you.”
Jeane here: This meal really was a surprise. It was fresh and delicious and packed with nutrients—a killer—rather a LIVING combination!
Love to you all,
Jeane
wow all I recall of he taste of dandelion stems was the bitter taste I got when using them for some kind of whistle as a child lol…I will have to trust that they are really good when mixed with all the other ingredients for the pesto!! Now I will definitely go out and taste some from the yard today to find out first hand again lol. I love the wild food recipes, they are so so, “EARTHY” 🙂
XOXOX
Grace
I THINK they used the leaves and not the stems (dandelion greens). Let’s see if they read this and respond: Jane? Julie? Taste both and let me know.
OK, Grace, we have an answer. Use ONLY the dandelion leaves.
The soil your dandelion grows in can make a difference in the flavor. I think also that later in the season the flavor declines.
Interesting…
Hi – I am a fairly recent reader, and have been really enjoying the posts, and the particularly recipes. Perhaps this was covered before I arrived, but what is ‘divine water’???
Welcome to the blog. I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. “Divine water” is how Katrina Blair, the author of the cookbook, always refers to water. And when you think of it, water really is divine, isn’t it?
Ah – indeed, that makes sense – and it explains my lifelong environmental activism – especially where stuff like fracking is concerned 😉
I hadn’t heard of fracking before so I googled it after reading your comment. Definitely a terrible waste of our sacred water, not to mention the assault on Mother Earth!
You live in the midst of culinary artists. Do you ever just slap together something to eat?
Mostly we celebrate food, even when we’re throwing it together. We’re artists so I guess we approach everything creative as an art form.