Crunchy & healthy snacks with wild leaves

Here is a very easy and delicious recipe that will convince everyone - even the kids! - to eat more wild greens. It is also a great way to shift to healthier snacks and it might help curb other undesirable food cravings - usually for junk.

You will need a food dehydrator for this recipe. It can be an electrical one or a solar one. There are many tutorials and videos on youtube on how to build a solar dehydrator using recycled materials. Some of those ideas work even in places where there is often not enough sun to get things dry, such as where I live. Some regular ovens can work on low temperatures, so if you have one of those that might also work out.

What you need for this recipe:

Wild leafy greens; freshly picked: dandelion, ground ivy, valerian, mint, etc.

Coating:

Tahine (sesame paste)

Sea salt

Coconut aminos, miso or tamari (all optional)

Water (or apple juice if you want to give it a sweet contrast) 

Herbs of your choice. I use rosemary, oregano, savory, thyme or other available aromatics

A pinch of chili

Lime zest + lime juice

Rinse the wild greens and dry them in a salad spinner. Mix the ingredients for the coating well until smooth. Dip each leaf in the liquid, making sure they are entirely covered with a thin layer of it and place them in the dehydrator trays. You may also work with teflex baking sheets over the trays, to protect the trays from getting too messy. Do not place leaves over one another. Dehydrate under 40°C to 45°C until crunchy (it may take from 2 to 5 hours, depending on how thick the coating is and how moist the air is outside. If you want an extra crunchy layer you can make sure the dip coating is thicker - but that will take much longer to get it dry. A thin layer will be also crunchy, but very fragile. When ready, take them out of the trays immediately and store them in a very good air tight container until the moment to be served. Sometimes after a few minutes after they are out of the dehydrator they start getting soft again. If they get soft again because you did not take them out of the dehydrator quick enough, just run the dehydrator half and hour extra and they will get back their crunchiness. 

Instead of tahine you can also use other nut or seed pastes (cashew, almonds, hazelnuts...). I sometimes add some hemp seeds to the coating dip, without mixing it. That gives a very nice texture to the snacks. 

Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

NL: Paardenbloem - F: Pissenlit

Well known for its long list of medicinal properties, this beautiful and powerful plant is also loaded with essential nutrients, which makes it a top plant in any survival situation.

It grows in most countries around the world, particularly in the temperate zones of the Northern hemisphere and withstands a wide array of soil types and weather conditions. It does not need any special care.  Dandelions are among the most nutritious greens that one can eat. Some raw foodists claim one could survive only eating dandelions if needed.

As food, it is very rich in vitamin A and C, calcium and iron. With only 55g of dandelions one meets 112% of his daily needs for vitamin A, 32% of the daily needs for vitamin C, 535% of the daily needs of vitamin K and about 10% of one’s daily needs for calcium and iron. It is also a good source of folate, magnesium, phosphorus and copper, and a very good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, potassium and manganese.

young leaves are less bitter

Leaves and flowers can be used fresh, in salads, green juices, in vegetable pies, pancakes, with mashed potatoes, in soups, bread, etc. It has a bitter taste, being less strongly bitter when harvested before blooming.

The roots can also be eaten raw or can be dried to be used in herbal teas. they can still be roasted to make a tasty and rich dandelion coffee.

Its most well studied applications in herbal medicine are as liver and gall bladder tonic and cleanser, diuretic and depurative. As diuretic it adds potassium to the body, as opposed to most diuretics, helping to balance the mineral content in the blood, and it can also help bring blood pressure to normal levels.

Seeds ready to fly high and conquer the world

Dandelions also favors digestion and general metabolism, include glucose metabolism, so it can help with diabetes, as well as with weight loss. It has some antibacterial and anti-yeast action. Also a great herb to relieve PMS symptoms.

bees love it!

Here is a very good video on dandelions:

 Dandelions - Edible and medicinal uses

And here you can learn how and why to use dandelion greens in your smoothies:

10 Reasons to use Dandelion greens

More recipes with dandelions (I prefer to leave the flowers to the bees, who are facing lately a "food shortage", but the rest of the recipes seem great):

Eat the Weeds: Dandelions Hear Them Roar













More on how to preserve its roots:

Harvesting and preserving dandelion roots

And here two more extensive articles from other dandelion passionates:

The Health Benefits of the Humble Dandelion

Dandelion, my favorite spring herb - by Lesley Tierra

In the link below you will find an extensive description of dandelion and learn how to distinguish it from its look-alikes:

Survival Plants Memory Course: Taraxacum officinale

Here is a 20 minutes long video where Cascade Anderson Geller shares her knowledge on identifying, harvesting and using dandelions:

Dandelion, by HerbMentor

And last but not least, a video on how important dandelions are for healthy soils:

Dandelions on permaculture - Paul Wheaton