Weeds Schmeeds!

We have lots of dandilions in the yard right now. So, instead of pulling them up and giving them to the girls, I decided it's a good time to experiment cooking with the leaves of this common "weed."  I got out my  handy dandilion puller-upper (a very useful tool that gets the things out from the root), and harvested a whole bunch of them. I removed the leaves to be cleaned and discarded the roots. Now washing the leaves was no easy task—I had to wash them about 5 or 6 times to get off all the dirt and debris. After they were finally cleaned, I sauteed them in olive oil with garlic and chile, then made them into cheesy quesadillas.

While the quesadillas were quite delicious, I am not certain they were worth the amount of effort involved in preparing dandilion greens—mainly the cleaning part. But I sure had fun making them! Here is the quesadilla recipe. Feel free to substitute any other green, such as chard, spinach, or kale, for the dandilion greens. 

Dandilion Quesadillas

1. Wash and dry about 8 cups dandilion greens. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add 2 cloves garlic (minced) and a big pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook and stir over medium-low heat for about 2 or 3 minutes. Then add the dandilion greens. Raise the heat to medium and cook and stir until the greens are wilted, about 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Preheat a medium cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Brush one side of six 8-inch flour tortillas with olive oil. Shred 4 ounces each of Monterey jack cheese and Parmesan cheese. Place a tortilla, olive oil side down, in the skillet. Top with one-third of the sauteed greens, a small handful of each of the shredded cheeses. Top with another flour tortilla, olive oil side up. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove from skillet and repeat with the remaining tortillas, greens, and cheese. Let cool for about 1 minute before slicing into wedges.