After a long drawn out winter here in Minnesota, spring promises many things, like warmth from the sun, green grass, and the first reprieve from uncomfortable cold weather. It also promises fresh salad greens that have not been shipped in from California.
And some of those fresh salad green are also weeds we have been socialized to eradicate. Dandelions anyone?
Click Read More to see the complete post.
Because I am yearning for a fresh green salad (it has been so long!) I decided to scope out the back yard even though our temperatures have been stuck in the 40 degree zone for the last five days. It has been unusually cold and does not feel like May 1 today.
I found two greens that are categorized as bitters; dandelion and garlic mustard greens. Back in my grandmother's day, bitter greens were better tolerated and valued for aiding digestion by stimulating the gallbladder to create digestive juices - like bile. It was common food culture to eat bitter greens prior to meals for health purposes.
In the past century (how time flies!) vegetables and greens have been hybridized to remove much of the bitter taste. As people who eat a Standard American Diet (SAD diet) very few of us could tolerate a salad made exclusively of bitter greens, but most of us can eat a few when mixed with other milder "foundation" greens. It is also important to pair bitter greens with stronger tastes we enjoy to balance the flavors.
There are a few weeds that make wonderful foundation greens, my favorites are Chickweed and Purslane. Both are mild in flavor and Purslane adds a nice crunch along with record amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids - the most of any plant!
Lambquarter (aka wild spinach) is another weed that can be used just like spinach and eaten either raw or cooked. This plant is a nutritional powerhouse offering a higher level of nutritional value than its cultivated counterpart, spinach.
Sorrel is a lemony flavored green that is a perennial in Zone 4. Although not technically a weed (I purchased and planted seeds to grow it), it does grow very early in the season and has wild cousins like Sheep Sorrel.
Until the Chickweed is bigger I will need to use Vit as my foundation green. Vit is a slow growing cultivated green that is extremely cold hardy and can be started in September and wintered over in a cold frame for use in the very early spring.
My first salad of the season was a delicious blend of Vit, Sorrel, Garlic Mustard, sauteed onion, re hydrated sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese. Olive oil and kombucha vinegar were blended to make a fresh tasting vinaigrette that complimented the strong flavors.
 |
| A beautiful and tasty spring salad. |
And some of those fresh salad green are also weeds we have been socialized to eradicate. Dandelions anyone?
Click Read More to see the complete post.
 |
| Dandelion |
Because I am yearning for a fresh green salad (it has been so long!) I decided to scope out the back yard even though our temperatures have been stuck in the 40 degree zone for the last five days. It has been unusually cold and does not feel like May 1 today.
I found two greens that are categorized as bitters; dandelion and garlic mustard greens. Back in my grandmother's day, bitter greens were better tolerated and valued for aiding digestion by stimulating the gallbladder to create digestive juices - like bile. It was common food culture to eat bitter greens prior to meals for health purposes.
In the past century (how time flies!) vegetables and greens have been hybridized to remove much of the bitter taste. As people who eat a Standard American Diet (SAD diet) very few of us could tolerate a salad made exclusively of bitter greens, but most of us can eat a few when mixed with other milder "foundation" greens. It is also important to pair bitter greens with stronger tastes we enjoy to balance the flavors.
 |
| Garlic Mustard |
There are a few weeds that make wonderful foundation greens, my favorites are Chickweed and Purslane. Both are mild in flavor and Purslane adds a nice crunch along with record amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids - the most of any plant!
 |
| Chickweed |
 |
| Purslane |
Lambquarter (aka wild spinach) is another weed that can be used just like spinach and eaten either raw or cooked. This plant is a nutritional powerhouse offering a higher level of nutritional value than its cultivated counterpart, spinach.
 |
| Lambsquarter |
Sorrel is a lemony flavored green that is a perennial in Zone 4. Although not technically a weed (I purchased and planted seeds to grow it), it does grow very early in the season and has wild cousins like Sheep Sorrel.
 |
| Sorrel |
Until the Chickweed is bigger I will need to use Vit as my foundation green. Vit is a slow growing cultivated green that is extremely cold hardy and can be started in September and wintered over in a cold frame for use in the very early spring.
 |
| Vit |
My first salad of the season was a delicious blend of Vit, Sorrel, Garlic Mustard, sauteed onion, re hydrated sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese. Olive oil and kombucha vinegar were blended to make a fresh tasting vinaigrette that complimented the strong flavors.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments and questions are welcome!