Sauteed Fiddleheads – a quick and healthy vegetable side dish

Sauteed fiddleheads are a very healthy dish as fiddleheads contain Vitamin A, Vitamin C, potassium, iron, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids but you must use care in preparing them. Important – Because of where they grow, in wet marsh areas frequented by animals such as beaver and muskrats, there is the potential that they can harbor bacteria and the parasite giardia. For that reason you should never eat fiddleheads raw and you should boil them for 10 minutes before using them in dishes such as this sauteed fiddlehead recipe or a stir fry.

Fiddlehead fern tops - you must clean the brown papery material from the outside of the "coin head" — These fiddlehead “coins” need to be washed under running water. Rubbing gently will remove the brown papery skin….not very tasty so it needs to be gotten rid off.

How to Saute Fiddleheads

Sauteed fiddleheads cooking in cast iron skillet on gas grill side burner next to seared rib eye steak — Tonight we are having grilled rib eye steaks and sauteed fiddleheads.

Sauteing fiddleheads is a quick, easy method to get these delicious wilderness veggies on the table. To prepare your sauteed fiddleads follow these instructions. Make sure you have thoroughly rinsed your fiddleheads and have removed the brown papery skins that cover the outside. This is easily done by just gently rubbing them while you are rinsing the fiddleheads under running water. The first step is to pre-cook the fiddleheads in salted boiling water for 10 minutes. Add 1 tbsp. of olive oil and 2 tbsp. of butter to a saute pan. Melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat until the milk solids in the butter turn a light golden brown. You can vary the flavor of your sautéed fiddle heads by adding some onions or shallots to the fiddle heads as they sauté. You can also add minced garlic but be sure to not cook the garlic for very long. Add the garlic when the onions are translucent if you cook the onions and the garlic for the same length of time the garlic will overcook. Drain the cooked fiddleheads and add them to the skillet. Sauté the fiddleheads for 3 to 4 minutes to blend the flavors and then serve.

Be sure to check out more of my Fiddlehead recipes listed just below the sautéed fiddleheads recipe.