Eating Weeds

There is something magical about eating what I have grown and picked myself.  I suspect I'm not the only one who feels that way.  Mine is not a vegetable garden.  I have a few fruits and herbs.  But I have discovered another culinary treat: weeds!  Well, maybe.

Stinging Nettle.
If you touch this plant you'll be very sorry.
But it tastes good.  Go figure.

My friend Bellonda forages and eats wild plants.  While we were hiking together, she was pointing out:  "This is edible, if you're desperate.  That is edible, if you want to bother."  But not long ago she came back from a foraging trip gushing about all the yummy treasures she had found.

Bellonda's stinging nettle tea and soup.

She gave me a jar of stinging nettle soup.  Talk about hair of the dog that bit you!  It was delicious.

I want to respect natural parks and other protected lands.  I also want to preserve any plant material not found in abundance, or residing in heavily traveled areas.  So my foraging options are limited.  I know that dandelions are edible (when young, and you won't find them any other way in my garden.) But I never remembered to bring them in the house.  Now I've tried it a few times... and while the act is satisfying in a man-bites-dog way, I am not yet a fan.

Eat mustard, all you want!
 These plants look cheery but they crowd out native plants and destroy mycorrhizae,
the soil fungus that helps water natives.

At the moment there is plenty of foraging in non-preserve areas of UCI.  In addition to dandelions, mustard galore!  Your typical Black Mustard leaves are ghastly at any size, hairy and thick.  But some other mustards are tender and succulent when young, if nippy with mustard tang.  The flowers are also nippy and tender-- and so festive!   So... mustard greens and flowers on the salad!

And here is one I never learned as a kid: Sour Grass, a.k.a. Oxalis: the three-leaf clovers (large and small).  As long as you choose tender young leaves, it's quite fun to brighten a salad with this tart, but not bitter, flavor. Sad to say, my yard has plenty of this weed.

A neighbor makes these nifty garden boxes with baby greens and flowers.
www.thepatiofarmer.com

We are all supposed to be eating our greens.  If there's one vegetable you grow at home, fresh baby greens could be a great choice.  (They need cool weather, sun, rich soil, protection from snails and rabbits... I'm not bothering at present.)  But just a few sprigs of fresh picked wild greens, a.k.a. weeds, brightens any salad.

Culinary notes (to self, and anyone else who might try foraging greens):

• Be sure to wash them well! I used a salad spinner.  Nothing ruins my appetite for greens like a bit of gravel. 
• Use a base of tender young lettuce and put the greens on top for spice– unless they're really mild.
• Serve with a simple dressing. I like fancy olive oil and Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar, or Girard's Champagne Dressing.
• Add something sweet to the salad if your greens are bitter.  Or at least something tart.  or salty.  Or all three!  Bitter does not stand well alone. 

If you think this whole foraging thing is a hoot and want to learn more, check out this Facebook feed: Pascal Bauder.  He is writing a book on gourmet cooking with foraged foods and he is very good at what he does.  I think I'll skip the bugs though.  You can join him.  Remember not to harvest from protected lands, or to take more than a portion of what is growing.

Pascal does all kinds of fancy stuff with wild food.
(Images used by permission.)

Soon the weeds will get big and tough.  So if you are going to experiment with eating weeds, start now.

Disclaimer:  Some native, garden, and naturalized plants are quite poisonous.  Public areas and front yards may have been sprayed with who knows what.  Any accessible wild area, including reserves and parks, may have been treated with Roundup to kill non-natives.  Recruit a trusted friend who knows what's what, or join Pascal on one of his foraging trips.  But go ahead and eat the dandelions and oxalis in your yard!

Bellonda's stinging nettle soup with sour cream and bacon.  Yum!

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