It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so I went to the hardware store down the street to buy some decently protective work gloves. Then I went down to the woods on the river bank, just a few blocks from my house, to look for nettles. And I found some!
I also picked some dandelion greens, violets, and mint, just because it was there and off the beaten path enough that I think it's all pretty clean. I saw a lot of yarrow, but since I'm not sure what to do with it other than make some tea I doubt I'd like, I left it alone.
The dandelion greens will probably end up in a salad with the violets, and the mint will end up in tea and/or mint juleps, depending on where the weekend goes. The nettles might be made into pesto, or maybe just braised, put in soup, or sauteed like spinach. I blanched them for a couple minutes to take the sting off and make them friendlier to handle when I'm cooking them.
Most people treat this stuff as weeds, but I love eating foods I know weren't cultivated for size, color, shelf life...pretty much anything but taste and nutrient value. Wild foods are good for you! I mean, so long as you're sure about what you're picking.
I was hoping to find some fiddleheads or ramps, but no such luck. I'll try someplace a little less disturbed in the next couple weeks.
Totally agree - or just generally cooking up...beans, greens, tubers, whathaveyou...where the first thought is "really?!" or "what is that exactly?" Wow - a salad with dandelions and violets sounds fantastic.
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