What have you had for breakfast lately?

[skilletlicker]

Bitter is better

msmofet and skilletlicker, I'd sure like to LIKE dandelion greens. Are they better first thing in the spring and more bitter as the summer rolls in?

The general consensus is they get more bitter with age. I tend to suspect that means the age of leaf though. I only have one plant grown in an indoor aquaponic bed. That plant is over a year old and produces new leaves faster than I can keep up with.

My humble opinion is that a little bitter is better for something like a green leafy addition to a ham and cheese sandwich. But the higher the ratio of dandelion to other ingredients in a salad the more I want to use the smaller leaves.

Hope that helps. Just one old man's opinion though. By the way that was parsley on the picture of yesterdays grits 'n eggs. Today grits with sweet corn had fresh sage instead.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

When I was growing up, the neighbor across the street took us dandelion picking. He loved the things. He said that you have to pick the leaves before the flowers appear. We had them with just olive oil and lemon juice, s&p. I liked them but we never went picking with him again. It might have had something to do with almost getting arrested for picking on private property. :

 

[msmofet]

The general consensus is they get more bitter with age. I tend to suspect that means the age of leaf though. I only have one plant grown in an indoor aquaponic bed. That plant is over a year old and produces new leaves faster than I can keep up with.

My humble opinion is that a little bitter is better for something like a green leafy addition to a ham and cheese sandwich. But the higher the ratio of dandelion to other ingredients in a salad the more I want to use the smaller leaves.

Hope that helps. Just one old man's opinion though. By the way that was parsley on the picture of yesterdays grits 'n eggs. Today grits with sweet corn had fresh sage instead.

I love bitter greens (dandelion greens, arugula/rocket and even broccoli rabe) mixed with mild greens in my salad.

 

[skilletlicker]

When I was growing up, the neighbor across the street took us dandelion picking. He loved the things. He said that you have to pick the leaves before the flowers appear. We had them with just olive oil and lemon juice, s&p. I liked them but we never went picking with him again. It might have had something to do with almost getting arrested for picking on private property. :

My year old dandelion plant has never had flowers. I assume that's why its still going strong. Same with basil and parsley.

 

[blissful]

Thanks for all the dandelion experience there! I'm giving some thought to using dandelions or water cress or purslane in my morning smoothie. We've got all three available in area here. The kale pushing the limits of my bitter taste buds.

 

[msmofet]

Thanks for all the dandelion experience there! I'm giving some thought to using dandelions or water cress or purslane in my morning smoothie. We've got all three available in area here. The kale pushing the limits of my bitter taste buds.

I used to put water cress in my salad. But it's not easy to find around here lately or I am not looking well enough.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

blissful, when I tasted arugula for the first time it reminded me a bit of dandelion. I don't know if that's any help on the bitter scale. I don't know about kale since we aren't smoothie people, but our complaint about kale was the texture more than the bitter. Chew...chew...chew...chew...chew...chew...

 

[blissful]

Cooking Goddess, I smoothie the kale because I don't want to spend so much time chewing either, and a smoothie doesn't use salad dressing or salt!


Msmofet, I find the cress in the ponds that are fed by springs. Usually a swampier area. It comes back naturally every year. We are going on a hike there tomorrow to get some of that and some asparagus hopefully.


Let's see if I can find a good picture of it. This is DH harvesting water cress.

And this is a view with water cress in the water. On the left.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Cooking Goddess, I smoothie the kale because I don't want to spend so much time chewing either, and a smoothie doesn't use salad dressing or salt!...

I don't mind chewing - I guess that's why I don't like smoothies. Greens, generally speaking, are all high in some nutrient or another, or many. Since we're good with most anything but kale, I think we're doing OK. As far as salad dressing goes, I use so little of it that when we eat out, the server usually asks if I've had any of what came in the "on the side" cup.

 

[skilletlicker]

...
Msmofet, I find the cress in the ponds that are fed by springs. Usually a swampier area. It comes back naturally every year. We are going on a hike there tomorrow to get some of that and some asparagus hopefully.

I want a watercress tub. My new tomato buckets will finally force me to build the water manifold which should make it convenient. That's my hope anyway. String Algae has been the fly in the ointment in previous such endeavors.

 

[taxlady]

blissful, when I tasted arugula for the first time it reminded me a bit of dandelion. I don't know if that's any help on the bitter scale. I don't know about kale since we aren't smoothie people, but our complaint about kale was the texture more than the bitter. Chew...chew...chew...chew...chew...chew...

Have you tried kale chips? I don't much care for bitter, but these chips are weird, but yummy. Here's an old thread about them, with instructions on how to make them: http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f18/kale-chips-77553.html#post1100914

 

[taxlady]

Today, I had a small plateful of Dragon Lady sesame noodles for breakfast.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Have you tried kale chips?...

Yes, I have. Our son was on a kale chip kick on one of our visits. Made them often. They're OK. I'm usually not a big fan of any kind of chip, but sometimes I get in the mood. Personally, though, I'd rather munch on something else rather than kale chips. Raw veggies are good for getting the munch-and-crunch effect.

 

[Addie]

When I was growing up, the neighbor across the street took us dandelion picking. He loved the things. He said that you have to pick the leaves before the flowers appear. We had them with just olive oil and lemon juice, s&p. I liked them but we never went picking with him again. It might have had something to do with almost getting arrested for picking on private property. :

When I was a kid, the Italian women would go up to Route 1 and pick the dandelion greens on the median strip in the middle of the highway. Two many were getting hit by cars so the police put a stop to it and it was turned into a law. So then the ones who lived here in Eastie, went down to pick the ones that grew along the railroad tracks and in the middle of them. To watch them was a show in itself. They fought with their fist if another women dared to pick on their stretch of land. Then along came a train and one woman was badly injured. Yup. Another anti law for picking these greens.

The next step was if you had these plants growing on your property and considered them a pest, call an old Italian lady and she would come and clean your lawn of all of them. I remember one woman began to sign up the women of the house as her clients. She had quite a business going. Then the police got wind of what she was doing and put a stop to her. She didn't have a license to operate a business. That was the last straw. No more dandelion picking for her. They could pick them but couldn't charge for it.

So I have always wondered. What about the kids who got paid to mow your lawn? They never had a license. The police never harassed them.

My kids were horrified when they heard that people would eat them.

 

[taxlady]

I had the leftover salad from last night's supper with a chopped, hard boiled egg and some of the leftover ranchoid dressing. That's actually one of my favourite breakfasts.

 

[Just Cooking]

I baked lemon scones with a glaze for breakfast..

First time baking them and they turned out really good..

Ross

 

[taxlady]

I had leftover salad with a cut up hard boiled egg and ranch dressing. The egg was actually my first attempt using the steamer method. It worked well enough, but next time it will be for 13 minutes instead of only 12.

 

[Addie]

A hash brown potato pattie, two breakfast sausages with one English muffin and one egg.

And I was able to cook it myself. For the first time in months I felt full. For me, this was a real accomplishment.

 

[Katie H]

We enjoyed omelettes of fresh onion chives, Swiss cheese and bacon, then bakery-made toaster pastries that included strawberry filling and another that was Nutella and chocolalate, fresh strawberries, orange juice and coffee.

 

[Andy M.]

Sunday breakfast was sausage patties, eggs over easy and TaterTot hash browns.