Monday, April 12, 2010

gathering greens


Lately, I've been enjoying doing a bit of foraging for our food.  We have an abundance of dandelion growing around our home.  It was interesting to shift my perspective on this plant over the last couple of weeks and see it as food instead of a foe.  They are coming to flower now...so the perspective is shifting back a bit.  Dandelion is the ultimate spring tonic.  So generously green in early spring just when our livers are most in need of this food medicine.

People around where I live, traditionally eat dandelion, but usually with a heavy dose of sugared bacon dressing.  I choose to enjoy a simple soup made by covering chopped daikon with a bit of water and adding the dandelion at the end just to wilt the leaves a bit.  This was my breakfast for several days along with some nettle tea (purchased: still looking for a place to forage that).


We also enjoy dandelion in our salads...well, most of us;)  Here is a salad we gathered last night for dinner.  Jude loves helping to cut the herbs and greens.  In addition to the dandelion, we have some mixed greens from our cold frame, kale that I planted last year that is still making new leaves, mustard that self seeded, violet blossoms, and red bud blossoms.  I loved the way the colors look and you know, that just makes food taste better.



Eating simply like this is really nourishing to me on so many levels.  When I can gather our food, I am so content.  What are you gathering these days?

:::

We are talking about the challenges of being mindful as a parent over at threading light today, please come over and share your thoughts.

15 comments:

  1. Gorgeous salad! We've been gathering dandelion leaves for salads too. My five year old son presented me with a bag of dandelion greens he picked on his own and my heart floated out of my body!

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  2. glad to know i'm not the only one bring 'weeds' to the table! we have been gathering wild mint, violas, dandelions from the yard and the first spinach, collards, and turnips from the garden, perhaps the only thing more nourshing than eating these greens is sharing them with my little ones.

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  3. That soup looks so giving in it's nutrients. I love dandelion greens, and they are occasionally available at our local farmers market. Thank you for sharing this wonderful post with us

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  4. So beautiful! I love dandelion greens but only get to enjoy them occasionally in salad mixes. I'll have to see if I can find some at our local farmers market.

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  5. This looks so amazing! I am thinking of making dandelion wine this year!

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  6. I was out pulling dandelions from my yard yesterday with my daughter and at one point I stopped and told her they were edible. I took a bite of a leaf and offered a leaf to each of my two girls. While it did not go over that well, I love the fact that my five year old has been able to wander the yard for 2 years pointing out what is edible and what is not. My sorrel plant might not grow at this rate, as they ravaged it all weekend.

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  7. Your type of gathering is so much nicer than gathering at Walmart! :) Great post!

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  8. Greetings. This post brought back so many memories for me. My mother use to love to make soups and salads with dandelions. She also loved nettle tea and soup. I had forgotten about them until you said something. Enjoy your foraging. Take Care.

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  9. Looks delicious! We've been gathering dandelions and chickweed for salads. I've been trying to hunt for morels but to no avail. Dandelion wine is in the works too!

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  10. How cool is that! I watched a travel show once about the island of Crete, and I was amazed that a big part of their diet is an incredibly wide variety of wild greens that grow on hillsides. Everyone forages for them and they attribute longevity to eating them.

    (after typing this up, curiosity got the best of me, so I googled it, and found this interesting blog entry on this very subject)
    http://organicallycooked.blogspot.com/2009/01/wild-greens-revisited.html

    kudos to you for doing this--

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  11. I love love love wild edibles and they are something I am trying to learn more about. My dad has fun stories of eating dandelion as a kid.
    Lovely looking soup and sweet bowl and cup set!
    Nicola

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  12. I love foraging! I have plans to collect a bunch of nettles and dandelion - i'm still discovering how to prepare them in a way that my family will welcome them (that is my challenge). It is simply fascinating to me that the first plants to appear after winter - are often the detoxifying, cleansing ones - what we need after winter!

    thanks - looks wonderful

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  13. This is very inspiring to me. I truly believe, too, that eating simply is so nourishing for the body, mind, and spirit. Our family is moving in the right direction with this, but we still have a "ways to go." I'd have to say one of the things I am currently gathering is "knowledge" on this very subject. :0)

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  14. oh I do love when flowers are ingredients. We grow nasturtium every year for that reason! And I never thought to eat dandelion before. I certainly have an overabundance of them at the moment, much to my neighbor's dismay. (she offered me her leftover herbicide the other day. I politely declined. Maybe I'll offer her soup soup made with dandelion greens soon!)

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  15. Hooray for dandelions!! I've posted about dandelion fritters on my blog as well as fairy salad (which looks just like the lovely salad you made--yum!!). I'm so happy to have a recipe with daikon radish...I bought a package of seeds to plant, but didn't have any recipes/ideas on hand for what to do with it. Thanks!!!
    <3

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