Hey ... wanna try some weed?
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I can't stop adding blogs to my RSS aggregator. Really, I think I have a problem.

But in food news, I'm also ashamed to admit that I spent money to acquire something that most people pay even more money (not to mention time and effort) to get rid of: weeds.

Yes, I paid $1 for a bunch of dandelion greens.

It was a conflicted decision for me. On the one hand, I've read that dandelion greens are often used in salads. And that they are full of healthy goodies, especially vitamin A and iron, as well as being a natural diuretic and gentle laxative. Plus, I dislike lawns: they are tyrants, leading only to environmental destruction and suburban angst. But that's another story.

On the other hand, dandelions are weeds.

But, we at Foodgoat will try anything (well, most things) once.

It's mostly stems, and not too much of the lion's teeth leaves. I cleaned them up, cut off the tough lower stems, and sauteed them in olive oil and butter, with some salt and pepper.

Foodgoat picked one out of the pan, and bravely ate the first bite. And very nearly gagged.

"Bitter?" I ventured, not really needing a reply.

But here is where I impressed myself. Sometimes when we taste something, Foodgoat will have this look like "Something's missing ... ", and I'll say, "Needs garlic?" And he'll say, "Yes! It needs garlic!" He thinks my tasting skills are improving, but really, I just say garlic any time he has that look, and most of the time it'll be right. So then I look much wiser than I am.

But this time ... "Will lemon juice help cut the bitterness?" I added some lemon juice, sauteed just a little longer and let it sit for a while.

The results: the lemon juice worked! It tasted okay. The aftertaste was still slightly bitter, though, so we didn't particularly care for it. But Foodgoat informs me that it was inedible before the lemon juice. And maybe I waited a bit too long before using them.

Sometimes I think I may, just may, be getting smarter about food. Then again, it could all be a fluke.