Dandelion chicory, a pick anytime vegetable

It's the leaf bases of dandelion chicory that make a good vegetable.
It’s the leaf bases of dandelion chicory that make a good vegetable.

I have been really impressed with dandelion chicory in the garden. I knew it as a vegetable from the greengrocers; a few big bunches always up the back of the greens stand, a little forlorn and unloved, mainly just providing a striking backdrop to the more bought (and known) greens.

I got the seeds thinking I’d use it as a salad vegetable, a few of the dark green leaves adding interest to a lettuce plate, but all that has changed. Now I know it’s the leaf stems that are the good part, and the chickens get the bitter leaves.

Growing dandelion chicory

Dandelion chicory makes an attractive staple in the vegetable garden
Dandelion chicory takes care of itself in the garden

Autumn is the best time to sow dandelion chicory in our subtropical area. The seeds can fend for themselves straight in the ground, but they also transplant easily. The plants grow so well here that I would just scatter the seeds in a few rows. The usual advice of fertile, well dug, limed, and well drained soil in full sun applies.

Chicories have long taproots, and once they get going there seems to be little that will stop them. Forget about them and you will rediscover plants with a big rosette of dark green leaves. That’s the time to start picking. Because of that taproot, they can sprout a new crop of leaves, so you can just cut the whole bunch of leaves above ground level.

Through the warmer months  dandelion chicory sends up branching flower stems with pretty blue flowers. Mine self-seeds freely, and I am happy for it to find its own places in the vegetable garden. It is quite well behaved with respect to other plants, as it has a compact upright form and doesn’t overrun or overshadow.

Using dandelion chicory

Dandelion chicory is easy to prepare, just wash and chop.
Dandelion chicory is easy to prepare, just wash and chop.

If you have an aversion to bitterness, then dandelion chicory is probably not a plant for you. We love the mild bitterness of the leaf stems, and I think it comes into its own in a risotto. Winter and Spring are good seasons to pick, which makes it a nice change from all those cabbage greens. Treat it much as you would asparagus, although it can cook for a little longer.

I just rinse, line up the bottoms, then chop the leaf stems into centimetre segments until most of the white stem is gone, and throw away the leafy tops. The stems have a nice sweetness and crunch.

A very handy thing about dandelion chicory is that it sits ready to harvest for a long time, so can be a staple to pick when you feel like it, rather than having to pick it or lose it. Once it goes to flower you have lost it for the season, but cut off the flower stem and it will come again with a new crown of leaves. Here it is at least a biennial, but it gets a bit hard to trace the older plants, as new ones sprout everywhere.

One thing I haven’t tried is blanching it. This would give more of a witloof effect, reducing the bitterness and adding sweetness. Just an upturned pot for a few weeks should turn the leaves white.