Dandelion is our friendly front yard weed here in northern New England. Beautiful spring yellow flowers smiling back every time there is little sun to meet them. Yes, it is a weed in perfect lawns. But I do not have one and I do enjoy little peaks of bright yellow here and there in my yard. Dandelion greens are however vastly gaining popularity as an edible weed with an impressive nutritional and health benefit profile in recent years. It might be a little challenging vegetable to work with because of its intense bitterness but not really for this curry girl. Make way dandelions, let me make some delicious spicy sauce for you today. But first let’s look at those nutritional benefits that everyone is so swooning over.
Dandelion Greens: Health benefits and Nutritional profile
Dandelion greens, being a leafy vegetable, is pack full of those vital vitamins and minerals, fibers and is naturally low in carbs and low fat. If you look at the macro nutrients profile per cup (105g) of boiled dandelions
Calories 35
Net Carbs 3.7 g
Fat 0.4 g
Proteins 1.5 g
Source: www.nutrionalvalue.org
If you look at the micronutrients profile dandelion greens are extremely high in minerals like calcium, and potassium with impressive amounts of phosphorus and magnesium. Also, dandelions are packed full of vitamin A, C, K, Folate and Choline. Adding more leafy greens like dandelions is key to getting increasingly important micronutrients to achieve and maintain good metabolic health in ourselves.
Adding dark leafy greens like dandelions with very potent nutrient profile as food is much more beneficial than getting it as a supplement. I passionately believe adding them as a food helps to stay within safe dosage and counter getting potential side effects if, any.
If you like to read more on the benefits and nutrition of dandelions, I highly recommend visiting quick recap by www.webmd.com and www.nutrionalvalue.org
I am feeling bit hungry after the wait, so let’s get cooking
Dandelion Greens in a spicy curry sauce recipe
Prep time: 30 minutes cooking time: 15 minutes
Serving size: 10 to 12 servings
This curry is vegan, completely plant based, low carb, low fat and low Calorie
Ingredients
- 2 bunches of Dandelion greens
- 2 Bunches of Collard greens
- Half a cup of vinegar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3 cloves of Malabar tamarind
- 2 tablespoons of coriander powder
- 2 tablespoons of Spanish paprika
- 2 teaspoons of cumin
- 1 inch piece of cinnamon
- Two cardamom pods
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoon of coconut oil
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Handful of curry leaves
- 6 green chili peppers
- Two medium sizes red onions
- 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- Half a cup of scraped coconuts.
How to prep Dandelion greens
Sort and rinse the greens and remove hard stems at the bottom
Soak them in the in the sink full of cold water with half a cup of vinegar and salt mixed in for half an hour.
Rinse well two times, drain and give the greens and stem a rough chop.
Boil a pot of water with three Malabar tamarinds and salt. When the water reaches rolling boil add greens and blanch for about two minutes until color changes. Remove it into a bowl and let it cool.
Save some of the blanched water and now cook Malabar tamarind for the sauce.
Making spicy seasoning base for the dandelion greens
Make a spicy roasted red curry powder seasoning by dry roasting 2 tablespoons of Spanish paprika, 2 tablespoons of cumin and 2 tablespoons of coriander powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tsp of nutritional yeast in heavy bottomed skillet.
Heat 2 tbsp coconut oil and add tsp of mustard seeds and add 3 whole green chilies, ginger garlic paste, cardamom and turmeric powder. Sauté for a few seconds. Add diced red onions and caramelize.
Making the sauce and finishing the curry
Transfer the caramelized onion mixture to a blender cup. Add scraped coconut flakes, roasted red curry powder, well-cooked and soft Malabar tamarind, some of the blanching water, curry leaves, garlic cloves, ginger, three green chilies and puree into smooth paste.
Add that back to pan with a cup of water and an inch long stick of cinnamon. Cook for 10 minutes until sauce is thick.
Add the greens back and simmer for another 3 minutes tossing to coat the sauce. Turn the heat off and allow it to cool completely before storing in freezable containers.
Serving and pairing suggestions for Dandelion greens curry
Rice and curry meal
Serve over steamed basmati rice, lentil curry and grated carrots salad and curried dandelion greens as rice bowl meal
Serve over Steamed red rice, sour fish curry, Creamy jackfruit curry, curried dandelion greens as rice and curry meal bowl.
How do rice and curry meals work? Here are some examples.
As a curry spread
Puree a cup of curried greens with half a cup of olive oil and handful of cashew nuts for a delicious savory spread over slice of rustic dark rye sourdough loaf.
How to make sourdough bread? read below
A dipping sauce
Blend a half a cup of spicy dandelion greens curry with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and half a cup of boiled chickpeas to make a delicious dipping sauce for tortilla chips, and rye crackers.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe of how to cook dandelion greens and will try it sometime. Nothing much was mentioned about collard greens in this recipe. Do you think collards are feeling a little bit left out today just because I only wrote about dandelions? I think not. They are just as important, and I used them in the recipe because they are just as good and hardy enough to withstand the cooking process. Also, collard helps to dilute the strong flavor of dandelions somewhat. Hats off to both dandelion greens and collard greens and thank you for reading!
