photo provided courtesy of elanaspantry.com
I’m starting to think about the possibility of a spring detox and one of my favorite healing roots — dandelion. Dandelion is a fantastic liver cleanser and spring is the perfect season for liver support.
According to Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, dandelion root has bitter, sweet and cooling properties, making it optimal for the pitta dosha.
Although I use various parts of the dandelion for healing, here, I’m focusing on the root which is a good blood purifying herb. The root is also a useful remedy for stomachaches, and in herbal medicine is said to be beneficial for hypoglycemia and high blood pressure.
How can you get these benefits? According to The Way of Herbs, “roasted dandelion root makes a pleasant beverage that can be consumed daily. It combines well with kukicha tea, or chicory root.” I take my dandelion root with chicory which gives the beverage a deliciously bitter, coffee-like flavor. I also add cinnamon sticks to my Dandelion Root Coffee, because I love cinnamon and also consider it a “super” spice with extremely healing properties — though that’s a post for another time. Here’s a most delicious way to take healing dandelion root.
ingredients
4 cups water
2 tablespoons roasted dandelion root
2 tablespoons roasted chicory root
1 cinnamon stick
directions
- Place water, dandelion root, chicory root and cinnamon stick in a pot
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 5 minutes
- Pour coffee through a small mesh strainer into cups and serve
serves 2 – 4
recipe courtesy elanaspantry.com
This actually sounds delicious! Can I sweeten it with Stevia?
I’m not Elana :)
but if you know you don’t react to stevia, it is great for sweetening. I use it in dandelion root tea/coffee and love it.
Thanks for answering Libby! I drink roasted dandelion tea without any sweetener, but have never tried it with the chicory and cinnamon. I’m sure you can add any sweetener you want, just experiment and find the right amount. If stevia doesn’t taste good with it, maybe a small amount of raw honey would be good.
I just heard David Wolfe, raw food rockstar, talk about using “shilajit” as a coffee substitute because it has a slightly roasted flavor, so that might be good to add, too. He says shilajit is known as a “destroyer of weakness” and is the top Ayurvedic herb (actually he says it’s not even an herb, he calls it a “mineral pitch”).
Where do you get the roasted dandelion root and chicory from? Sounds yummy!
Probably any health food store that has a bulk dried herbs section, or an online herb store Susan. Mountain Rose Herbs is one reputable herb company that I’ve used before personally. If you want to use tea bags, I can recommend Traditional Medicinals’ Roasted Dandelion Root Tea, but it does not have chicory in it.