Chapter 2
Put Some Wild in Your Salad
Early colonists to the Americas were unsure of the foods they would find in their new homes. So before they left Europe, they packed seeds from mustards, dandelions, and other plants from their homelands. They planted them in their new communities. Many of these plants, introduced to the American continent by the colonists, were so successful that they still cover the landscape.
Americans of later centuries came to consider many of these plants weeds. But before the plants became known as weeds, they were considered food. First Lady Martha Washington, for example, prepared purslane for George’s dinners. Until the end of the nineteenth century, cooks and homemakers could easily find recipes for purslane and other traditional greens. But when farmers shifted from hand labor to mechanized agriculture, people changed the way they viewed these plants. Machines were unable to easily harvest purslane and certain other greens. Some grew too close to the ground for machine harvesting, and the machinery damaged others. So Americans began to think of them as unwanted weeds. Recipes for these healthy vegetable greens eventually disappeared from US cookbooks. Twenty-first-century Americans are interested in locally grown foods, and some are turning back to purslane and other weedy wild greens.
Mount Vernon, the estate where George and Martha Washington lived in Virginia, still maintains gardens of flowers and edible plants. Small gardens outside kitchens were common for centuries, and cooks relied on the produce for their menus.
Please Do Eat the Dandelions
Dandelions grow just about anywhere there is soil and sunlight. They are among the healthiest plants to toss into the salad bowl because their leaves are high in calcium, vitamin C, iron, and vitamin A. They’ve become so trendy that upscale food markets sell dandelion greens and dandelion tea.
Nearly every part of the dandelion is edible: leaves, flowers, flower buds, and roots. You can even eat the seeds, if you have the patience to separate the tiny seeds from their fluffy white parachutes. Dandelion leaves can be eaten raw in salads or sandwiches. They are especially good in egg salad sandwiches. The best time to harvest dandelion leaves is in early spring when they are small and tender. Make sure to pick leaves before the dandelion begins flowering because they get bitter as the plant matures. Leaves also become bitter in hot weather when it rains less often, so look for plants growing in wet, shady spots.
You can cook dandelion greens too—especially the larger leaves. Try steaming, boiling, or stir-frying them. You can sauté them with (or without) bacon and add them to potato salad, quiche, or casseroles in place of spinach or kale. Cooks also blanch dandelion greens by boiling them in water for about five minutes and then plunging them immediately into icy water so the greens don’t continue to cook. The quick cooking sweetens the greens, and the ice bath helps them keep their color.
Dandelion flowers make a sweet addition to cookies, cupcakes, biscuits, and bread. Some cooks even roll them into tortilla dough or sprinkle them over salad. What looks like one big yellow dandelion flower is actually a cluster of thin individual flowers. Each large head holds up to one hundred flowers. Each flower produces a seed, which means a single plant produces more than one thousand seeds over the summer. The trick to separating the individual flowers from the flower head is to hold the tips of the yellow flowers between the thumb and fingers of one hand and to pinch the green base with the thumb and fingers of the other hand. Then tug to release the flowers from the flower head.
Some people dip entire dandelion flower heads in cornmeal batter and fry them as fritters. As for the roots, people roast and then grind them to make dandelion root tea.
Plantain Pizza and More
Plantains (Plantago spp.) are as hardy as dandelions and nearly as widespread. Common broad leaf plantain (Plantago major) has fat, spoon-shaped leaves that taste like nutty asparagus. Narrowleaf plantain (P. lanceolata) has thinner, lance-like leaves with parallel ribs (lines running from the base of the leaf to its tip). As settlers expanded westward in North America, plantain followed, earning the nickname “white man’s footprint.” Like dandelions, plantains are a good source of vitamin C and calcium. Use tender, young leaves for salads and sandwiches. Older leaves, chopped and boiled, make a good pizza topping.
Chickweed is another introduced species commonly found in lawns and gardens. The dainty leaves and stems are tender and mild. For a burst of green freshness, substitute them for sprouts in salads and sandwiches. Some people include chickweed as an ingredient when making pesto, or they steam entire plants just as they would steam spinach.
Lamb’s-quarter stays tender and mild all summer. The leaves are naturally covered in a protective powdery coating of dried mineral salts that make them look dusty. Lamb’s-quarter leaves, commonly called wild spinach, have a mild flavor and are perfect for recipes that would normally call for spinach. Include them in omelets and frittatas, lasagna and pasta, quiche, soups, and stir-fries. These plants are full of nutrients, and high in calcium and vitamins C and A.
Lamb’s-quarter is also known as goosefoot, for the triangular webbed-foot shape of its leaves. Some people call it pigweed, which is confusing because there is another edible plant also called pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus). Like lamb’s-quarter, young pigweed leaves are mild and taste fine raw or cooked. Lamb’s-quarter and pigweed are both members of the amaranth family and are native to the Americas. Knowing the scientific name is helpful to distinguish one plant from the other, but as far as eating goes, they can be used interchangeably.
Lamb’s-quarter is considered a weed because it can quickly take over spaces with bare soil. Yet it is an extremely nutritious green because it has high levels of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin C, and vitamin A.
Both lamb’s-quarter and pigweed produce edible seeds—a single plant can produce anywhere from thirty thousand to seventy-five thousand! Seeds can be cooked alone as cereal, added to oatmeal or rice, or tossed into the batter for muffins and breads. Sprouted seeds make tasty salad or sandwich toppers. You can even pop them! Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat, and pour in about 1⁄8 cup of seeds. Shake the pan as the seeds pop (they won’t pop very high). In twenty to thirty seconds, they will be ready to eat. Popped pigweed and lamb’s-quarter seeds are much too small to eat as a movie snack, but they taste yummy sprinkled over yogurt and cereal.
Pick a Peck of Pickled Purslane
Remember the purslane that George Washington ate? It’s easy to spot. With succulent light green leaves and red stems, it looks almost like a jade plant. Its chubby water-filled leaves help purslane survive drought. Purslane even puts up with salt, making it perfectly adapted to city life in places where people use salt to melt ice on roadways and sidewalks.
Purslane tastes tart and peppery, like a lemony cross between spinach and watercress. Young leaves and stem tips make a juicy addition to green salad, potato salad, and sandwiches. They’re also good steamed, stir-fried, pickled, added to stews and gumbos as a thickener, baked into casseroles, cooked with eggs, pureed into fruit smoothies, and sprinkled over pizza before serving. Purslane has more calcium, iron, and potassium than lettuce.
Purslane is native to India and Persia (what is now Iran) and has spread as an invasive weed throughout the world. Wonder what to do with it if it’s spreading in your garden? Try eating it!
The flowers of the chicory plant (Cichorium intybus) are bright blue. The leaves look similar to dandelion leaves, and they alternate along their stems, which can grow up to 4 feet (1.2 m) high. Though edible, the leaves are bitter when raw, so blanch them before eating them. Some people brew roasted ground chicory root to make New Orleans coffee, a drink Louisianans invented when they could not get real coffee during the Civil War (1861–1865).
Curly dock (Rumex crispus) is a member of the buckwheat family. It grows in fields, vacant lots, and along roadways and is most noticeable when it goes to seed. That’s when you see its tall stem topped with clusters of dark seeds. Curly dock gets its name from the curly edges on its leaves. The leaves make a good side dish when sautéed in olive oil with a tiny bit of garlic or onion. Dock leaves tend to be bitter so use just a few at a time. Try adding them to stir-fries, egg dishes, soups, and stews.
Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is grown as a hay crop for animal feed. It also grows in fields, yards, and along roadsides. The flowers look like pink pom-poms topping the plant. They are yummy when tossed raw into salads or cooked rice. You can also add a few blossoms to your tea the next time you make a cup.
Impress your friends! Host a pick-your-own salad bar and pizza-topping party.