Dandelion Greens Sauté with Bacon & Raisins
Bitter dandelion greens are turned into a delicious and healthy dinner side with the help of just a handful of ingredients that include raisins and bacon!
The Dekalb Farmers Market, here in Georgia, is one of my favorite places to shop at. When it comes to fruits and veggies, they seem to have just about everything and then some! By the way, this is not a sponsored post.
Recently, my daughter and I were on our way back home from a Pulte Smart Home Event in Atlanta, when we decided to take a detour and spend a few hours at the Dekalb Farmers Market (instead of sitting in traffic for those same hours), on our way back to Athens. And, ended up with a shopping cart full of jackfruit, passion fruit, rambutan, herbs, wine and fresh dandelion greens.
Now, the dandelion greens piqued my curiosity as for the past 7 months, a cup of dandelion root tea at night has helped me break my 2-cups-of-coffee-at-night habit. So, I figured I’d bring home some of those dandelion greens to see what (if anything) I could do with them. Besides, dandelion tea and greens have several health benefits.
Some Dandelion Benefits:
• It is said to help detoxify the liver
• With high levels of Vitamin K, it is said to help promote bone and heart health
• It is said to be a natural diuretic
• Dandelion has been found to stimulate the production of insulin by the pancreas thus regulating blood sugar levels.
After a quick rinse off, we proceeded to do a quick tasting of those raw greens. And, boyoboy, were they bitter! At least to me! My daughter said they were slightly more “peppery” than arugula… but… I just couldn’t stand to eat them in a salad no matter what else went into it. So, I perused the interwebs and came across many articles that mentioned blanching the dandelion greens first before cooking them. So, blanch them I did.
And, they still tasted a lot like disgusting to me!
After all this, I didn’t want to throw those dandelion greens out. So, in a last ditch attempt, I figured I would sauté them up with some red onions, spices and throw in some of the extra baked bacon I had on hand along with some raisins to add some sweet to what I thought was a bitter, salty mix. And, I gotta say, I was surprised.
Even though I had been hoping I wouldn’t have to, I had been thinking that I’d end up having to throw this whole pan of dandelion greens, bacon and raisins out because it would end up tasting a lot more like disgusting. But, I was wrong.
The blending of sweet, spicy, salty ingredients and the sautéing of those once bitter dandelion greens resulted in quite a delicious concoction. Delicious enough that I had to document it on here because, with my memory, I’d be sure to forget how those dandelion greens went from something like disgusting to something quite delicious!
My daughter and I paired this Dandelion Greens Sauté with Bacon & Raisins with some spiced shrimp and some rice ramen noodles for dinner. They are also delicious on a baked potato along with some sriracha, as well as as a side to this Wine spiced chicken. So, feel free to enjoy a bowl of these Dandelion Greens with any other protein and/or carb pairings.
A Few Tips To Make Dandelion Greens Less Bitter:
1) Sauté dandelion greens in a bit of oil, after blanching them.
2) Spice dandelion greens up with sultry spices like coriander, cumin and smoked paprika.
3) Pair dandelion greens with sweet and salty flavors such as raisins or figs and bacon.
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Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups dandelion greens rinsed, dried and roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion chopped
- 2 strips baked bacon
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 2 tsps dried parsley
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp corinder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fill a pan (large enough to hold the dandelion greens) with water and bring the water to boil.
- When the water is boiling, drop the dandelion greens into the water for 20 seconds. Using a large spatula or pasta drainer, remove the dandelion greens and place them on paper towels to drain. They will be looking pretty darn pathetic at this point, but don't fret.
- Meanwhile, add the olive oil to a pan along with the chopped red onion. Stir the red onion as it sautes over a medium flame. Let onion saute for about 15 minutes or so.
- Add in the blanched and drained dandelion greens and saute about a minute.
- Then, add in the paprika, parsley, coriander and stir well. Toss in the bacon and raisins, season with salt and pepper and enjoy!
THANK YOU for those tips to make dandelion greens less bitter! I only had them a few times but most of the time they are a little too bitter for my liking. Def going to try those tips AND make this tasty dish.
I would have never thought of adding raisins to the stirfries…what a delicious add! The stirfry looks yummilicious!
Never thought to try sauteeing dandelion!!! Looks fantastic!!!
I don’t believe I’ve ever had dandelion greens…yum! And I’m certain that the bacon goes well with them. Yum all around!
Bacon makes every recipe awesome! Thanks for this recipe.
I love dandelion greens and the fact that you paired it with some raisins and bacon makes me want to run out and get some!! That looks both delicious and easy!
You know what’s funny? Back when we lived in Atlanta (this was before the blog days), I had a recipe that called for dandelion greens. I didn’t know where to get them, and I remember hunting all over town. I should’ve known to just go to Dekalb Farmers Market…that place has everything! Dandelion greens are more common now, so thanks for sharing these tips. I’ll have to try this recipe out now…and maybe I’ll just pick the dandelion greens from my front yard. Haha! Hope you gals had a great 4th!
Hey Shashi. Well done for breaking your 2 cups of coffee at night habit! Are you totally off it, are do you still have a brew during the day? I miss my daily Starbucks now I’m not going into Glasgow everyday. But I do a cafetiere of coffee in the morning instead. Anyway, the recipe. Lol. Next time I’m at our local market in Queens Park I’ll get some dandelion greens and definitely give this recipe a go. Thanks for the tips on making those greens less bitter!
Those greens are beautiful! Both raw and cooked. Love this recipe.
THANK YOU for those tips to make dandelion greens less bitter! I only had them a few times but most of the time they are a little too bitter for my liking. Def going to try those tips AND make this tasty dish.
Never thought to try sauteeing dandelion!!! Looks fantastic!!!
I don’t believe I’ve ever had dandelion greens…yum! And I’m certain that the bacon goes well with them. Yum all around!
Bacon makes every recipe awesome! Thanks for this recipe.
I love dandelion greens and the fact that you paired it with some raisins and bacon makes me want to run out and get some!! That looks both delicious and easy!
Hey Shashi. Well done for breaking your 2 cups of coffee at night habit! Are you totally off it, are do you still have a brew during the day? I miss my daily Starbucks now I’m not going into Glasgow everyday. But I do a cafetiere of coffee in the morning instead. Anyway, the recipe. Lol. Next time I’m at our local market in Queens Park I’ll get some dandelion greens and definitely give this recipe a go. Thanks for the tips on making those greens less bitter!