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For my third book of the spring, then, I picked up Powell's Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously
So I, too, started with the first recipe. Having never before prepared leeks myself, I sought the advice of my mother, who explained that a very thorough washing between the leaves is necessary, as leeks grow in sandy soil. (I have to say that this advice saved us from some very gritty soup.)
I found Julia Child's recipe for potato leek soup at mouthofwonder.com and followed it but for two exceptions: 1) we used olive oil instead of butter or cream (for health reasons), and 2) I added a little over a cup of finely chopped dandelion greens. To summarize: Boil a finely sliced leek together with 4 cups of peeled, diced potatoes and 1 tbsp salt for 40 to 50 minutes, adding the dandelion in the last 20-25 minutes; mash up the mixture or run it through a potato ricer (I used the food processor); put it back on the heat and add 6 tbsp cream or 3 tbsp butter (I used olive oil); garnish; and serve.
It would be unfair to compare my soup with the original, seeing as I have never tasted the undoctored version of the recipe, but it is safe to say that potato leek soup with dandelions is quite tasty, a pleasant addition to my growing repetoire of dandelion recipes. After all, dandelion greens are not only healthy, but they are also 100% free if you are willing to put in the work of identifying and foraging them from a clean location, and of course washing them thoroughly.
On a related topic, in April there was a lot of buzz around dandelions in Boulder--not about someone stealing too many, but about the ethics of using pesticides on them. Daily Camera ran two stories back-to-back, the first about the Boulder Dandelion Festival, organized by a pesticide reform group and featuring edible dandelion treats, and the second about a planned protest by residents against the spraying of dandelions by their condo management company. Seriously, if I lived in Boulder, I would eat all of those dandelions (provided they hadn't been sprayed, of course).
According to Tilford (1997), the dandelion was introduced into North America by European settlers as a "food crop and medicinal cure-all." One commenter on the Boulder protest story used the fact that they were introduced to apply an argument against invasive species as a reason why the dandelion should be doused with pesticides.
It is true that we have many introduced species currently growing in North America, some of which were brought by the first foreign settlers when they came to this land. To be sure, some are more harmful than others. Some, however, are and have been very useful. Take mullein, for example--an introduced plant that was quickly adopted by native people who recognized its medicinal value (Brill, 1994).
Anyway, it seems a shame that people spend so much money each year on eradicating the dandelion while at the same time introducing pesticides into the environment--when the plant is both nutritious and delicious!
Furthermore, "Wildman" Steve Brill gives an extensive account of the dandelion's medicinal properties in Identifying & Harvesting Edible & Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places
Thanks.
And remember, only you are responsible for using wild edible and medicinal plants safely. Once you feel you're ready, though, I do very much recommend sprinkling dandelion greens into Julia Child's Potato Parmentier.
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