Nutrition Fact For The Week: Dandelion Greens

                      
Dandelions. The first thing we think of are those annoying yellow weeds that surround the house and never go away no matter how many times their picked. But the dandelion green is actually a great food to include in your diet. Not only is it a versatile green that can be used in a variety of different meals but it has many medicinal uses as well.

Dandelion Greens are low in saturated fat and cholesterol and are high in lots of needed vitamins and minerals. There high in dietary fiber, vitamin A, C, E, K, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Manganese, Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper. That's a mouthful! With all the great things found its easy to understand that they are good for our health aid in losing weight. The magnesium found in the dandelion green is responsible the energy and stamina production in our body. Dandelion greens have about as much iron as spinach and has four times as much vitamin A as a head of lettuce. With all good vitamins and minerals crammed into these annoying lawn weeds of course they would have some medicinal uses.

Dandelion greens aid in digestion and they reduce swelling and inflammation. They can be used to treat viruses, jaundice, edema, gout, eczema and acne. So not only does eating dandelion greens help in weight loss but also gives you a great complexion too.

Here is a great way to cook dandelion greens that is fast and easy:

Boil them for five minutes.
Steam them until they are tender, 1 -- 2 minutes.
Saute one cup of greens for 1 -- 2 minutes with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon sesame seeds. Serve with a dash of tamari or soy sauce.
To remove the bitterness from plants that have already flowered, you can blanche them in a pot of boiling salted water, drain and blanche them again.