Dandelion
Take a look...You can find them almost anywhere!
-Illustrations by Kaia Etezadi, Text by Rachel Schleifer
Plantain
The dandelion can be found in many urban areas and the young leaves, flowers, and unopened flower buds are
excellent for cooking! The flowers are
much less bitter than the leaves, and
go very well in a stir fry, complimented
with soy sauce. The flower petals, along
with other ingredients, can be used to make dandelion wine while the roasted roots can be used to make caffeine-free dandelion coffee! Dandelions were once delicacies eaten by the Victorian gentry, mostly in salads and sandwiches. Dandelion leaves also contain an enormous amount of health benefits, including abundant amounts of vitamin A, C, and K!
Plantain is found all over Montreal, on
lawns and parks and in vacant lots! The
seed can be cooked like sago or dried and
ground into a powder and added to flour
when making bread! A tea from plantain
leaves is used as an effective cough medicine and a syrup from the fresh leaves has also been found in traditional Austrian medicine to help treat disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, insect bites, and infections!