More dandelion love

Oh but that dandelion is a loud ally. Hollering at me everyday with bright yellow sunny flowers beaconing from every green patch. Tender and bitter green leaves popping up everyway. I had to go out and get more dandelion this morning. The sun was shining, the breeze warm, and the grass soft and moist on my bare feet.
Lovely. I pulled out my collecting basket and sat in the grass picking dandelion leaves and flowers. I know that once I get back to the Sonoran Desert, this plant ally will be much harder to find. The dried root makes a fine medicine, but there is nothing quite like fresh spring leaves to add to the diet as the weather is warming up.


I've picked lots of leaves to dry for later use, either as tea or rehydrated and added to soups or other vegetable sautees, but I did reserve some of the fresh tender leaves for making Dandelion Pesto!
You can find the recipie above, or modify it according to taste and preference. This year I added some toasted pine nuts to the nuts, and added some fennel, coriander and cumin seeds for variety.

You can use this like any other pesto, but I enjoyed on top of a spring omelette of greens and onions.
I've always wanted to make dandelion flower wine, but unfortunately, I'm going to be moving in a few weeks time, and I don't think the jostling of a moving trailer would be good for fermenting beverages. Darn!