This week’s recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

This week, I share some personal adventures with dandelion greens:

“‘But they’re weeds.”

My much better half is not, shall we say, “adventurous” when it comes to greens.... So when I pitched dandelion greens for dinner the other night, well, you can probably understand the breathless shock.

Dandelions are an assertive green, just ask any gardener who’s had to battle them on the front lawn or in cracks on the driveway. Unwanted, any greens are “weeds.”

But have you ever bitten into a dandelion leaf? The flavor is tangy, even borderline bitter, with a definite texture. It’s an assertiveness that can work wonders in the kitchen, provided you know how to handle it and pair the greens with complementary flavors.

Did I eventually convert a new dandelion lover? Yes. And I share every persuasive recipe I tried.

This week’s recipes include:

• Salad of dandelion greens, blood oranges, goat cheese and pecans
• Dandelion pesto
• Wilted dandelion greens with bacon
• Bittersweet Treat’s brown butter cookies

When you try one of this week’s recipes or any L.A. Times recipe, let us know! Upload a photo to the “Our Recipes, Your Kitchen” gallery to share your take on the recipe and tell us about yourself. Your photo will be posted online on our L.A. Times Food page.

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You can find Noelle Carter on Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest. Email Noelle at noelle.carter@latimes.com.