There are so many topics about which I would love and need to post about, so please forgive me if I’ve promised to post about a recipe or something else, and haven’t yet. I will get to it, promise.
Between teaching part-time, being a mom to my three vibrant and energetic young children as well as running my household, being a supportive wife to a very busy hubby, and finding time to do other things important in my life, it’s sometimes difficult to do everything that I would like to each day, including posting to this blog. I’m sure your life is similar in terms of demands, so we’re most likely in the same boat in terms of “time poverty.” This is not me complaining, just hopefully giving you some context to my life.
So a few random thoughts that have been bumping around in my head.
First, did you know you can eat dandelions?
This be
autiful, sometimes obnoxious weed is really so much more than meets the eye. They are completely edible, although most of us don’t find them on our dinner plate regularly, or ever. But this humble plant is so chock full of vitamins and minerals, specifically calcium, iron, and vitamin C, you wonder why we all don’t go out to our yards and start chowing down. Well, I think the most obvious reason is that most of our palates aren’t accustomed to green tastes, and dandelions, specifically, are not only “green tasting” but quite bitter as well, a taste that our palates don’t encounter very often in American food.
autiful, sometimes obnoxious weed is really so much more than meets the eye. They are completely edible, although most of us don’t find them on our dinner plate regularly, or ever. But this humble plant is so chock full of vitamins and minerals, specifically calcium, iron, and vitamin C, you wonder why we all don’t go out to our yards and start chowing down. Well, I think the most obvious reason is that most of our palates aren’t accustomed to green tastes, and dandelions, specifically, are not only “green tasting” but quite bitter as well, a taste that our palates don’t encounter very often in American food. Iceberg lettuce, maybe romaine, are probably the preferred greens of choice, followed by spinach and green/red leaf lettuce, at least in America. These greens have a mild flavor that most people don’t consider strong. Although I remember going to restaurant where I ordered a salad and asked for something other than iceberg. Not an option the waiter told me. I asked why iceberg lettuce is the preferred lettuce of choice in many restaurants and he said it was because that’s what people wanted.
Other greens include kale, chard, mustard/turnip/collard greens and are less popular, I think because of the above mentioned reason: people aren’t familiar with the green taste and these greens are rarely found in restaurants or your run of the mill grocery stores. Ever heard of curly chicory, watercress, endive, lollo rosso, lambs lettuce, curly lettuce, oak leaves, argula, escarole? These are just some of the lovely varieties of green leafy lettuce greens that are some of the most nutrient dense foods we have available.
Take dandelion greens for example. Check out their nutrition information: one cup contains only 25 calories, no fat or cholesterol, 10% DV of calcium, 32% DV (daily value) of Vitamin C, 112% Vitamin A (side note, I’ve heard people tout the health benefits of consuming butter, when I ask what those are, I’m told it’s because it’s one of the best sources of vitamin A, which I think is funny, because vitamin A is abundant in so many plant foods, you certainly don’t need to consume butter to get it), 9% DV of iron, and 2 grams of fiber.
No wonder cow’s milk is a rich source of calcium–they get it from the greens they eat, or at least they used to. Now 3 in 4 cows eats feed that is supplemented with calcium because they no longer graze on lush fertile grass land.
So if anyone ever says, “well geeze, you have to drink soy milk that has been fortified with calcium while I get it from the source (cow’s milk),” you can respond, “Uh, actually the cow’s milk you are drinking is fortified as well. The calcium in milk comes from supplements given to the cows via their food.”
It’s interesting that the most common argument that the pro-milk people give for drinking the stuff intended for growing calves, is to protect your bones with all the calcium that is found in milk. Well you can easily dissolve that argument by knowing two things:
1) calcium is a mineral that comes from the ground and is found first in leafy greens, beans, fruits, and other vegetables and
2) If you want strong bones, stop consuming foods that leech calcium from your bones (such as large amounts of animal protein, which incidentally is found in cow’s milk, ironic isn’t it?, carbonated beverages, high sodium intake, refined sugar) AND do weight bearing activity daily such as strength training, carrying heavy objects (like babies and toddlers!), running & jumping/hi-impact aerobics.
So back to dandelions, besides being a rich source of calcium, vitamins A & C, fiber, and iron, they also have great detox properties, and act as an excellent cleansing agent for the liver. Which makes so much sense, as they are abundant in the warmer months, especially spring, when the body could use some cleansing after a long winter.
I’ve been putting dandelion greens in my green smoothies every day. This is great, because they cost nothing, just go out in my yard and pull a few plants, wash ’em off, and throw them in.
This particular smoothie above was VERY green, even for me (typically I just throw in a couple of handfuls of greens with some fruit and water/ice). Ingredients: afalfa sprouts (that I made, and which are so easy to grow on your own, as I’ve said before), kale, celery, spirulina, fresh squeezed lemon juice, green leaf stevia powder (to add a bit of sweetness), and dandelion greens. Talk about CLEANSING! Not the tastiest stuff, but I actually don’t mind the taste of greens and I feel sooo great afterwards.
And on another random note, here’s a recent meal that was so simple but deliciously satisfying: kidney beans, sweet potatoes (nothing on them, simply mashed), and sunflower sprouts.
So filling, simple, and yummy.
More random thoughts to come, but for now, I must go out and eat some dandelions 🙂
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