Wild Dandelion Greens Freshen Up Dinner

Wow. Not bad! Here's how I fixed the fresh-picked wild dandelion greens for my dinner:

I put a heaping teaspoon of unrefined sesame seed oil (Spectrum Organics) in a seven-inch frying pan and turned the gas stove on medium-high to heat it up. I washed and stacked about a dozen dandelion leaves on my cutting board and then sliced the stack into very thin strips. I placed them in the pan, stirred evenly, and turned the heat down to medium-low.

While that was starting to cook, I brought out my leftovers from the refrigerator: a mixture of cooked quinoa, brown basmati rice, and wild rice, and a mixture of cooked lentils, kombu seaweed, and onion. I scooped out enough for a single meal and placed it on top of the greens in the pan, then drizzled a little water over it (about a tablespoon). I turned the heat down to low and covered the pan.

While that was slowly steaming, I boiled some water for tea, and washed some dishes. I'm telling you this, because otherwise, I did not use a timer to mark how long it was taking to cook the food. I knew it wouldn't take very long, because most of it I was only reheating and the dandelion greens did not need to cook much at all. (They're often used raw as a salad green.) Then when the tea water had come to a boil and the tea was steeping, I plated up my dinner.

I placed the whole mixture in a bowl, sprinkled gomasio and a little Ohsawa soy sauce over the top, and took its picture. Then I ate it. It was very good. And there was no bitterness at all. Some of the pieces of dandelion greens had become delicately light and crispy, adding a little crunch to the overall dish. Yum, yum!

See Also:
Dandelions, Rediscovering The Wild Greens 

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Green Vegetables

Dandelions, Rediscovering The Wild Greens

I was working out in the garden a couple of weeks ago, pulling weeds, when I finally decided to taste my first dandelion leaf — right then and there on the spot, without bothering to wash it. Before, maybe ten or fifteen years ago, it never would have occurred to me that dandelions are edible. I have childhood memories of my grandmother showing me how to eradicate them from the garden and lawn, stressing how important it was to remove the entire root, or else it would always grow back.

Nowadays I hear about dandelions a lot, both the green leaves and the roots, being used in cooking recipes and tea. I've even seen it in the grocery store. So here I am, standing in the sunshine, finally tasting my first dandelion leaf, and I'm shocked to find that not only is it not bitter — as everyone seems to be saying it would be — but it is also delicious! I picked a whole bunch of them and cooked them up for my lunch and they tasted even more delicious, again, no bitterness to be found.

The next week, I found a big bunch of dandelion greens at the grocery store and decided to buy it. The leaves looked much better than my straggly little dandelions back home — longer, bigger, and brighter green. But you know what? They tasted bitter! Even after I cooked some, they tasted bitter. But I liked them anyway. I looked up a bunch of recipes for cooking them and tried the simple method of boiling them for 15 to 20 minutes and then seasoning them with soy sauce. Not so much bitterness, but it was still there.

Okay, this morning I happened to be looking at a dandelion in our back yard and began to wonder. Do dandelion greens start out tasting sweet and become more bitter the longer or bigger they grow? Does the process of cultivating them using rich, loose soil, fertilizers, and lots of watering, actually cause them to become more bitter? Do they become more bitter when they're flowering? 

I don't know, but I'm going to go pick that dandelion right now and see how it tastes!

Well, the verdict is not entirely in, but I will say this: I just tasted two wild dandelion leaves, one from a plant that has no stems or flowers and one from a plant with lots of stems and flowers. I could not detect any real difference in the taste and once again, they were not bitter like the ones from the store. There is a faint bitterness, but it's very faint. So, later, I shall cook them and see how that changes the taste, but I suspect that cooking will only make them taste less bitter.

I think my wild dandelions are better than the cultivated ones from the store!


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Wild Dandelion Greens Freshen Up Dinner

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A Basic Yin And Yang Tool Set

How do we know when something is more yin than it is yang? Why do we say that a tomato, for instance, is very extremely yin, and meat, on the other hand, is very extremely yang? Furthermore, what tells us when we need to eat a yin food rather than a yang food or vice versa?

In his book, Philosophy of Oriental Medicine, George Ohsawa gives us a head-start in determining the answers to these questions.

According to George Ohsawa's "Unique Principle," everything is made up of two opposing and complementary forces, called "Yin" and "Yang."   

• Yin is an expansive, outward-moving force (centrifugal).
• Yang is a contractive, inward-moving force (centripetal).
• Yin and yang are opposites and they complement each other. 

Physically speaking, everything is under the influence of these two forces. Yin is the centrifugal force in this world that is expansive. It produces silence, calmness, cold, and darkness. Yang is the centripetal force in this world that is contractive, or constrictive. Yang produces sound, action, heat, and light. 

All living things—animals and plants alike—start out small and yang. As they grow and change, they become more expansive, more yin. The longer they have been growing, the more yin they are. Until finally, at their most-yin state, they die, leaving seeds that return to the earth and continue the same cycle in a new and different way.

Here are some of the basic phenomena that can be used as tools to measure the amounts of yin and yang in all living things, including food:

• Color and Temperature
• Shape, Form, and Size
• Weight, Density, and Pressure
• Chemical Composition
• Water Content
• Taste and Smell
• Point of Origin
• Direction and Speed of Growth
• Climates and Seasons

See also:

TWELVE THEOREMS

SEVEN LAWS


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Using Fresh Lemon Balm In Recipes

In one of my favorite books, Kitchen Herbs, by Sal Gilbertie, he gives several recipes for cooking with lemon balm, as well as some useful suggestions for storing the herb (page 146):

• "Lay fish or chicken over a bed of lemon balm leaves before baking; you won't need any other seasonings." 

•"Stir the minced leaves into cooked rice or into clarified butter for dipping artichoke leaves."

• "Dried lemon balm is mainly used for tea. For other uses, it's better to freeze the leaves for later use, packed into plastic bags. They'll keep well for up to 2 months." 

In his chart on kitchen herbs (page 87), he lists herbs that can be combined with lemon balm that won't overpower its sweet, citrusy flavor, including: "chervil, chives, dill, fennel, mint, parsley, shallots, and very carefully with garlic." 

In another one of my favorite books, The Macrobiotic Brown Rice Cookbook, by Craig Sams, he talks about using herbs in these recipes:

• for Vegetable Stock:
" Use fresh herbs where possible, but keep it subtle. Many herbs develop bitter tastes if they are overcooked, so it may be better to add them in your final recipe." (pg. 34)

• for Rice and Greens:
"Add herbs generously to this recipe—fresh marjoram goes well, try fresh dill or fennel, sprinkle Japanese wasabi horseradish powder in it to give it more bite."  (pg. 50)

• for Tom Kha Tofu soup, he mentions a tip for freezing chopped herbs:
"I use an ice cube tray to make cubes of chopped lemongrass or Thai ginger, a quick way of having these awkward-to-prepare herbs readily at hand." (pg. 106)

• for Herb Rice:
"You may wish to include a specific herb in your diet such as parsley, mugwort, or thyme. When the rice is cooked, stir in a teaspoonful or so of the herb and allow to stand for another 10 minutes. The steam and heat of the rice will draw out the herbal flavors. Adding herbs before cooking will lead to overcooking the herbs and destroying their flavor." (pg. 119, under "Preparing Brown Rice For Fasting")

In Essential Guide To Macrobiotics, Carl Ferre talks about using herbs in a beginning macrobiotic diet:

• "Seasonings are another way to spice up an otherwise "bland" diet. They are especially helpful to those whose taste buds are adjusting from the highly stimulating typical American fare to a macrobiotic approach. 

• "Many seasonings may be used as garnishes for variety in serving or as a complement to help balance the effects of some dishes. For example, grated daikon or grated radish would be a good garnish for fish."

• "Cooking herbs and spices, including basil, oregano, cinnamon, curry, cloves, and others are used in small amounts." (page 20)

I found this recipe for "Lemon Balm And Yogurt Dressing for Green Salads" on page 89 of The Herbs and Spices Cookbook, by Christian Teubner and thought that it might be easy to modify for a vegan dressing:

(Add the herbs after mixing all the other ingredients together first.)
1/3 cup yogurt (or perhaps miso or tofu?)
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground white pepper
2 tablespoons freshly chopped lemon balm

And finally, I can personally recommend this simple beverage: 

To a large pitcher of fresh water, add a few sprigs of lemon balm and spearmint, and a handful of freshly picked strawberries. Allow to sit for a few hours in the refrigerator or a cool spot before serving.  The flavors will be subtle, light and delicate, and the beverage is quite refreshing on a hot summer day.  Cheers!

See also:

Lemon Balm, A Friendly, Cheerful Herb

Lemon Balm Continued, Exploring The Many Common Names And Uses


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Diet #7 By George Ohsawa

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Lemon Balm Continued, Exploring The Many Common Names And Uses

After I cut some of the lemon balm and set it to drying in the attic, I started compiling a list of common names that lemon balm is also known by. Now that we have the Internet, it'll be interesting to look them up and see how people are using lemon balm. For example, I see that there is a company named after "Blue Balm" that makes handmade soap.

The scientific name for lemon balm is "melissa officinalis" and it belongs to the Lamiaceae or Labiatae mint family of flowering plants. Other common names include sweet balm, melissa, Zitronenmelisse (German), citronelle (French), and melissa (Italian). (no. 91, Simon and Schuster's Guide to Herbs and Spices)

The Herb Book, by John Lust, has a longer list of common names, including: 
• balm mint
• bee balm
• blue balm
• cure-all
• dropsy plant
• garden balm
• lemon balm
• melissa
• sweet balm
(See page 105, "028 Balm.") 

I can understand why it's called a "dropsy plant"! We have it growing on either side of a walkway and after it grows to three feet tall, it starts drooping over, making it harder to walk there. (I learned from the Internet that the word "dropsy" means to fill up with fluid.)

However, according to Wikipedia, lemon balm is not to be confused with bee balm, which is a different genus. Also, there is a balm mint plant that is a native Australian hardwood shrub that can grow up to two meters tall.

Other common names (listed on various websites) include:
• sweet mary
• honey plant
and just plain
• balm

What Others Have To Say About Lemon Balm
Here are some of the properties and uses for lemon balm that are mentioned in my books on herbs:

According to Simon and Schuster's Guide to Herbs and Spices, edited by Stanley Schuler:

• "Lemon balm has antipyretic, refreshing, cholagogic, and stimulant properties; and melissa water is a well known calmative." (See number 91.)

Leslie Bremness in the Eyewitness Handbook, Herbs: A Visual Guide to More Than 700 Herb Species from Around the World, says 

Fresh lemon balm leaves: 
• Add a delicate flavor to food dishes, oils, vinegars, and liqueurs
• Provide a relaxing bath
• Soothe insect bites
• Make a sedative and tonic tea
(Evidently, lemon balm tea has a reputation for giving longevity and for soothing headaches, indigestion, and nausea.)
• Extracts made from lemon balm are antiviral and used to clean and heal wounds by starving bacteria of oxygen.
• The lemon balm essential oil is refreshing, an antidepressant, and helps some eczema and allergy sufferers.
• And finally, an interesting note is this book says that lemon balm "attracts bees, and if rubbed on empty hives will encourage new tenants."

One of the featured articles this month at the Virginia Gardener Magazine web site is a great one about "Lemon Balm—the Scent of Sweet Dreams and Calm Nerves" by Anna Holton.

Fresh Lemon Balm Tea 
And while I was waiting for the herb to finish drying up in the attic, I decided to try a cup of hot tea made from a bunch of fresh lemon balm leaves. I picked about a dozen large leaves, washed them, and stacked them on top of each other. Then I cut the stack into tiny pieces and placed them in a glass mug. I poured boiling water over the herbs, covered it with an upside-down plate, and let it steep for about 15 minutes. I liked it!—It was surprisingly refreshing, with light and delicate flavors of lemon and mint.


Related blog articles:

Lemon Balm, A Friendly, Cheerful Herb

Using Fresh Lemon Balm in Recipes

Lemon Balm, A Friendly, Cheerful Herb

Today I harvested some of the lemon balm that's growing like crazy in pots and flower beds all around our house. I love this plant! It's very easy to grow, and although it likes the sun, it will really flourish (and does) in the partial shade.

It grows fast and reaches two to three feet tall in just a few weeks of warm spring weather. Because it's a perennial, it comes back every year after dying back in the winter. We planted it a couple of years ago and since then I've learned that if I cut it just before it starts to flower, then it will continue to grow and give me a second harvest in the same season.

Lemon balm is from the mint family and it looks a lot like spearmint and catnip, both of which we are also growing nearby. Lots of little plants are popping up this spring all over the various flower beds and the only way I can tell if it's really lemon balm is by crushing a leaf between my fingers and smelling the strong lemony oils from it. Oh yes, that's definitely lemon balm — the scent is delightful!

So far, I've mostly enjoyed our lemon balm as an ornamental plant in the gardens. And so, today I decided to look up other possible uses as mentioned in my collection of books about herbs.

Drying Lemon Balm for Later Use

I bundled the stems, each about two to three feet long, into a giant bouquet and tied it up with green garden twine. Then I hung it up from a rafter in the attic, where it's dark, warm, and airy, to dry for two or three days. I'm planning on using the dried leaves for tea mainly, but I'll also experiment with adding it to food and sauces.

According to Growing And Using The Healing Herbs, by Gaea and Shandor Weiss, lemon balm is a rather fragile herb and it is best to try to dry the leaves within a two-day period and to monitor their progress carefully during this time. This book has a lot of useful information about lemon balm as well as directions for making healing infusions and teas. (See pages 173 and 306.)

"The fresh plant is more effective than the dried."
—The Herb Book, by John Lust

According to the book Herbs: Gardens, Decorations, and Recipes, by Emelie Tolley and Chris Mead (page 136), Elizabethan nosegays filled with lemon balm were given as messages to express sympathy.  

It's true, the scent of the plant is heavenly, and becomes even more intense after I cut the stems or crush the leaves. It smells like a mixture of lemons and mint, and it really does lift your spirits! I think I'll cut a few more stems and put them in a flower vase today.

Related Blog Articles:

Using Fresh Lemon Balm in Recipes

Lemon Balm Continued, Exploring The Many Common Names And Uses

Ohsawa Pie Crust

This is truly a miracle recipe for pie crust.

I know this from years of experience. I remember the first time I had to make a pie crust for my employer (while babysitting and feeding dinner to her two children) and she insisted I use only butter, a little salt, and white flour in the recipe. It was impossible! Every time I would roll out the dough, it would stick to the surface of the board and the rolling pin, and totally break apart when I tried to pick it up. I finally had to settle for an unattractive and disappointing pie.

Then later, I found a recipe from Hints From Heloise for “Foolproof Pie Crust,” which included a little water mixed with an egg and a tablespoon of vinegar. That’s the recipe that I continued to use for years because it was so manageable, albeit not so very tasty.

So now, I finally have the best recipe ever for a delicious and very healthy pie crust. I found it on page 73 of Zen Macrobiotics, by George Ohsawa, and I wonder how I could have missed it!

It uses only seven ingredients, including two vegetable oils (and not that much of it), whole wheat flour, and water, plus a little seasoning of salt, cinnamon, and orange peel. The dough keeps well in the refrigerator, for 6 days at least, and is always easy to roll out into a very thin layer. It never breaks apart and is easy to pick up and position in the pie plate. And best of all, it is delicious!

Ohsawa Pie Crust
(Enough for both a top and a bottom crust)

1 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
3 tablespoons of oil (equal parts of olive oil and sesame oil)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, unrefined
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange rind, minced (I used a tiny-holed grater)
1/4 to 1/2 cup (or more) water

Blend all of the ingredients together to form a soft dough. (I used an electric mixer.)

Roll out the dough on a smooth, cold surface using a heavy marble rolling pin if possible. (This really makes it easier to roll the dough out very thin.) I sprinkled a little flour on the surface first to help keep the dough from sticking, but I don’t know if it was really that necessary. I was able to handle the dough without it sticking to my hands.

See also:
Ohsawa Pumpkin Pie Filling


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