Did you know that the humble yellow flower that most people see as a pesky weed in their garden actually has numerous powerful health benefits? These include healthy skin, liver cleansing (who doesn’t need a liver detox these days?!), and reducing inflammation. This plant is so versatile that literally every part of it, the flowers, the roots and the leaves, are used as food and medicine, and have been used in this way for centuries.
Naturally I was ecstatic to learn this, as my garden is full of dandelions. So eager to try it out, my children and I started the tedious process of digging out the very small dandelion plants and cutting out the little roots. After literally hours, we had a heap about the size of my two year old’s fist. We proudly and carefully carried our harvest into the kitchen, ready for tea! After a failed attempt to chop the roots in the food processor, because they were too tough, I had to make the hard decision of either depositing them all on the compost heap, or make another plan. In the end (in an attempt to prevent further disappointment), I decided to dehydrate the (by this time pesky!) roots first, and so we had to wait another few hours before we could finally roast, grind and make tea from it! I definitely got golden stars for persistence on this one!
And to top it all, after all our physical labour, all we got was a little pot of tea. But… it tasted WONDERFULLY nutty and smooth! And we have been hooked ever since.
We have come a long way since our laborious day in the sun. Now I just buy the roots, already chopped up, and do the easy work of roasting and grinding. It’s become a favourite in our family! We drink it many times a day mixed with liquorice root and ginger powder.
As mentioned above, this drink is an amazing support for your liver and adrenals. The combination of the three herbs makes it highly anti-inflammatory and aids the body in handling the stress and toxic overload that we are exposed to on a daily basis.
And then for the ex-coffee lovers out there, roasted dandelion root is also a very good substitute for coffee. Since Riandi quit caffeine as part of the healing protocol for Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism, it has been her delight to discover and enjoy this wonderfully tasty, nutty flavoured and especially healthy drink.
Roasted Dandelion Root Tea
Ingredients
To roast:
- 2-3 cups Dandelion root
Per 1 cup of tea:
- 1-2 teaspoons roasted Dandelion root powder
- ¼ teaspoon ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon liquorice root powder
- Hot water
Instructions
To roast:
- Put Dandelion root in an oven dish and bake in the oven at 150C for approximately 1 hour. You will start smelling the roots and they should be lightly browned when done.
- Allow to cool and blend into a fine powder.
- Store in a glass jar with a sealed lid.
Per 1 cup of tea:
- Put a small tea strainer into a cup and add the roasted dandelion root powder, ginger powder and liquorice root powder.
- Fill the cup with boiling water and allow to steep for about 5-10 minutes.