Last weekend I spent a lovely hour harvesting dandelion greens in the rain. This is nothing new as I am running outside daily to get a handful of the wild greens to add to my breakfast omelette, salads and soups. This time, however, I harvested a very large bowl full, washed them very well and then ran them through the manual Tribest Z-Star manual juicer that I bought for juicing wheatgrass.

I use the juice as a cleansing tea, adding one tablespoon to a mug full of hot water. I also freeze the juice in ice cube trays and add one or two ice cubes to my morning green smoothies. I am going to be juicing dandelion greens like crazy all summer so that I can continue to freeze them and add them to smoothies, soups and sauces all winter long.

Last summer I did a post called Dandelion Love, outlining the medicinal properties of the flowers, leaves and roots of the mighty dandelion. Here is an excerpt that I wrote on the leaf:

The leaves can be eaten fresh in salads (it tastes bitter, like arugula; balance this with a sweet dressing if you do not like bitter) or cooked and added to stir fries, soups and casseroles. You can juice the leaves, freeze the juice in ice cube trays (storing the cubes in ziplock freezer bags) and add to green smoothies all year round. Or you can make large batches of dandelion tea with flowers and leaves, allowing the mixture to boil down and become very concentrated. Strain then freeze the tea in ice cubes. Later, thaw a cube and add to a mug of hot water for dandelion tea in winter. The leaves contain bitter glycosides, carotenoids, terpenoids, choline, potassium salts, iron and other minerals, vitamins A, B, C and D. The leaves act as a detoxifying agent and therefore often used during cleanses. It is also used as a diuretic or to treat high blood pressure. The leaves are very good for the liver and gallbladder, and stimulates the production of bile. ~Delena

It is always such a thrill to walk outside my back door and into a whole world of edible wild plants. The dandelion is Royalty among herbalists, bursting with goodness.  Not only are dandelion leaves delicious but they are also so good for us!