If you are accustomed to viewing the common dandelion as a garden nuisance-stop! This vitamin-and mineral-packed herb can be of great value of your health. Pick the plant in spring, when its leaves are young and tender; slice and cook the roots as a delicate vegetable, and use the leaves raw in salads for a zesty dish loaded with vitamin A. People on salt-restricted diets should go easy on the dandelions, however, for they contain large amounts of sodium. The yellow blossoms (if there are any left after your spring pickings) are traditionally used to make dandelion wine – a great favorite during Prohibition years in the United States.
You are most likely to find dandelion on the store shelf in the form of tea or as a coffee substitute. The tea, made from dried dandelion leaves, is considered an excellent blood cleanser and is helpful to digestion, the liver, and the gall bladder. Its chopped roasted roots are used as a coffee substitute, which unfortunately does not taste a great deal like coffee but possess the same curative values as the tea.
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