I was at the feed store yesterday getting hay and saw vast amounts of dandelions growing along the sides of the building and up against the steps going into the store and got to thinking about a wild salad or a wild stir fry and knew that's what I wanted to tell you about today.
Before I do that, I have a few other things I wanted to share with you. Occasionally I come across something that I find so wonderful and share worthy that I cannot keep it to myself. I have 3 things I wanted to quickly tell you about:
1) One Second After by William Fortschen and One Year After also by Mr Fortschen. I had a friend tell me about these books that tell the story of the aftermath of an EMP and that they were so interesting he literally stayed up all night reading them, I ordered them from Amazon and read half of One Second After last night before bed and he was right, it's hard to put down. It's equally hard to read as well. though. It makes you reevaluate your habits and dependencies. I was busy making notes as I read, of things I needed to do to be better prepared for any type of devastation that could come. If you practice any kind of prepping, you probably have read it, but if not...you have to read these books.
2) Golden Milk. I came across the recipe as I was searching for a detox tea and it looked good in the picture and sounded good, so I made some. It was good! It has turmeric and ginger which are both good for detoxing but also have anti inflammatory properties. I'm a retired runner and my knees hurt much of the time so I decided to try this to see if it could help the pain. I've only been drinking the concoction for 2 days so I can't testify to the pain relief but I can tell you it tastes so good, I'd drink it even if it didn't do anything at all. I tried a few recipes and the link above is the best. I used fresh turmeric and grated it but the recipe here uses powdered turmeric and that's much more common to find than turmeric root. Doesn't stain your hands yellow either.
3) War Room. While I do enjoy a good, wholesome movie, this one isn't exactly what I would pick but because it is so powerful and so important, I'm overlooking some of my preferences and recommending it. If you are soon to be married or are married, this could be a boon to you. I gave it to my family members this Christmas. I encourage you to just buy the movie because you'll want to watch it over and over again.
Okay, now to the foraging part. Let's talk about Chickweed and Bittercress. These two tender greens L-O-V-E the winter. It can be 10 below and they will still thrive. Both are so abundant that they are invasive, you'll do your lawn and your body a favor by eating them! I usually share a medicinal plant as well as a strictly edible plant but this week these are both pretty much just edibles. They both have mild medicinal properties but none that have been verified by me so we're just going to enjoy these as a nice, green winter treat.
Chickweed (stellaria media)...
,,, is found in virtually every corner of the world and its appearance doesn't vary from one place to another so it's super easy to ID and safe to eat. When I was in my teens and first learning about foraging, this was the very first wild edible I tried. I gathered a mess of it and made a bechamel sauce and wilted the chickweed into it - much like a creamed spinach. It was tasty, but then, what isn't good in gravy? Now days, I prefer it in a salad over cooked because it's so delicate that I like to keep it as unadulterated as possible. You'll find Chickweed growing beside buildings and in flower bed and sometimes around the base of trees. In the spring it will have tiny, white flowers with many petaled heads and vibrant green, somewhat heart shaped leaves. The plant dies off as summer heat sets in but as soon as cool fall weather comes around, they come up en masse and will stay all winter long until they die off again in early summer. Locate a patch of it and just pull up the entire plant. The stems are thin and spindly so it's easy to do so. Wash them, pick off any yellowed or dead leaves and give them a quick chop. You can pick each individual leaf off if you want but it's tedious to say the least so I just leave the stems in. They are tender and mild, much like spinach.
Bittercress (cardamine hirsuta)...
...Bittercress (hairy bittercress) is a member of the Brassica family which also includes cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli and, like it's relatives, is pungent and flavorful. the roots of the Bittercress can be harvested and mashed with a mortar and pestle and mixed with sour cream to make a sauce that is similar to mild horseradish. The leaves are spicy and peppery and certainly liven up an ordinary salad. Like Chickweed, it can be eaten raw or sauteed lightly. It also has a long pagan history and is mentioned in the 10th century Germanic poem Woden and The Nine Herbs Charm as being one of the folklore herbs in the charm that is used to cure snakebite and poisoning. If you don't know if you have Bittercress growing near you, just look at the picture below, of the Bittercress seed pod and I bet you'll know then.
They stick to everything. Eat them now so you'll have less to deal with later!
If you've ever wanted to forage but have been a little scared you'd get the wrong thing. these are the plants to start with. Enjoy!
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