The first time I ever made dandelion fritters I attempted to make them sweet. They really didn’t come out very good. The flowers do have a nice nectary taste, but the green backs of the flowers are just as bitter as the greens. After rethinking things a bit I realized they need to be prepared as a savory dish. So fresh green garlic tops to the rescue!

As silly as it sounds, I felt bad about picking as many as I did mostly because the honey bees were so busy gathering nectar from them over the last few days. I was fortunate enough to capture this red admiral butterfly feeding on them as well. (They’ve also been hanging around my stinging nettles as it is the host plant for their larvae).

This is a pretty simple process. Dandelions and garlic are a very delicious combination. Even better if you have Parmesan cheese and lemon. A fresh squirt of lemon juice and some fresh cracked salt really make these fritters sing.

All you really have to do is pick your desired amount of herbage. I used the entire stalks of spring garlics chopped fine. Then I made a thin batter with flour egg and milk. When I had the consistency I wanted I stirred in the dandelion blossoms and added spoonfuls to a frypan with hot butter. Cooked on each side until golden brown. The dandelion petals form a nice matrix so these flip over easy unlike some other fritter recipes I’ve fried in the past.

Once they were crispy brown around the edges I served with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and a little salt and more fresh chopped garlic for garnish. The acidity of the lemon counteracts the bitter “green” and rounds the flavor out. These would be great as a snack or a side. The matrix of petals give the fritters a meaty texture somewhat like crabcakes, but reminiscent of falafel as well. Can’t wait to make more!