Let's Eat Some More Weeds!

I'm starting to really get into this foraging thing. Well, "into" in the sense that I really enjoy going into the flower beds to pull out some otherwise unpleasant invasives to make into an edible vegetable for dinner. I'm not going to get as into it as these people, though I applaud their persistence (and I really like their blog). I'm not motivated enough to dig up a dock root and eat it, thanks.

I probably also will not bother with the wild foods so much when the garden is producing crazy amounts of vegetables. But now? When the lettuce has refused to grow because of a month of rain and I would otherwise be forced to BUY vegetables? For MONEY? At a STORE? Bring on the dandelion greens. And garlic mustard.

Yes! Garlic mustard is totally edible! Even yummy! I knew this, but I had never tried it. I also never realized that it's actually a plant that was introduced many generations ago by immigrants for culinary purposes. That's right. It's SUPPOSED to be eaten. So I did.

I found some garlic mustard plants on the north side of the house that had just started to form flowers but hadn't actually bloomed yet. Like many greens, they get bitter when they flower. I also found some dandelion greens that were still relatively young, washed it all (twice--dirty little buggers, those greens) and blanched the whole mess for a couple of minutes in boiling water before chopping and adding butter, balsamic vinegar, salt, and little sugar.

Verdict? You should eat garlic mustard. It doesn't taste anything like garlic after it's been cooked, but it's a really good green. Certainly better than most tough, old mustard greens I've had to pay money for at the store in the past.

So get out there and pull some weeds and eat them. Good for the garden, good for saving money, good for your health. Wins all around.