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Kalyn Denny is a former third grade teacher from Salt Lake City, Utah, who discovered blogging when she wanted a place to share her recipes online....
 
 
 
 

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Free Food: Eat Your Weeds

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[img_assist|fid=4190|thumb=1|alt=Edible Weed Salad]
Photo of Salad from Foraged Plants by Kathy of Not Eating Out in New York.

In an interesting example of blogging synchronicity, Blogher gardening editor Deb Roby was wondering whether any bloggers are posting about edible weeds at the same time I was gathering links from food bloggers who are happily eating their weeds. So here's the answer to Deb's question: Yes, food bloggers are writing about foraged foods. Check out some of these posts and you'll want to start eating weeds yourself.

First, that gorgeous salad was made by Kathy of Not Eating Out in New York from "dandelion greens, wood sorrel and second-year burdock stem in a soy vinaigrette made with wild garlic and hedge mustard, all foraged from Prospect Park." In her post on Oh Foraging You Will Go, Kathy tells about foraging for greens in New York City as part of a class led by two experts who regularly give classes in foraging for food.

Boston Chef talks about Fiddleheads, a spring delicacy which can't be cultivated and can only be obtained by foraging. People who've had them rave about the taste of fiddleheads. If you're intrigued, I wrote about Fiddleheads last spring on Blogher.

On a blog called Nami Nami from Estonia, Pille gathered a plant called Ground Elder or Bishop's Weed and turned it into a delicious looking Greek pie called Hortapita. Earlier this year, Pille found some Dandelion Greens, which she turned into a tasty looking salad.

At A Veggie Venture, Alanna has noticed that if any type of edible weed has achieved supermarket status, it's dandelion greens, which have been featured as Dandelion Greens with Mushrooms and Pancetta and Cream of Dandelion Soup.

At What Geeks Eat, the innovative Vanessa uses her dandelion greens to make Smokey-Spicy Spanish Soup with Dandelion Greens.

Ulrike from Kuchenlatein has a different idea when she makes Dandelion Honey.

The Old Foodie specializes in recipes from the past, and she talks about stinging nettle and shares recipes for this invasive plant.

There are some great photos and descriptions of edible weeds at Garden Detective.

Foodshed stopped using weed killer, and soon she had an abundant crop of Lamb's Quarters in her yard. And in the same vein, Tomatoes and Zinnas explains Why She Goes Easy on Weeds.

And in an entirely different type of foraging, Bloghim Aidan Brooks gathers snails from his garden, feeds them carrots to clean out their digestive tracks, then has a gourmet treat made from foraged snails.

Food Editor Kalyn Denny also blogs at Kalyn's Kitchen where she tries to keep her garden weeded, but last year when the weeds got out of hand, she gathered the purslane and made Chopped Middle Eastern Salad with Purslane.

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margalite 5 pts

Hi Kalyn,

With the caveat that people understand the plants botanically AND that they know they have not been sprayed (or are too close to where cars travel), then FORAGING is an excellent way to get a more varied diet.

My contribution to this conversation is to help your readers learn about John Kallas, PhD. I met him about 14 or so years ago when he was starting his passionate venture. I applaud him for doing a vital service, not just for health, ecology, and survival skills, but for the joy that being in the real world and exercising our primal natural gathering instincts can have to salve our psyche. You couldn't have a better mentor.

http://www.wildfoodadventures.com/

and, especially about Dandelions, see what new light John can teach at his published article:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/kallas82.ht...

Best to all ---
Margalite

P.S. Please visit me at: http://diabetesdietdialogue.wordpress.com
"Everyone knows someone who needs this information!" (TM)

Pille 5 pts

Hi Kuri - I didn't mention that the fields were free from chemicals, as they have belonged to our families forever (almost:), and haven't seen any pesticides or stuff like that for decades. I guess I took it for granted that people would know that, but then I come from a part of the world which is - mostly - pretty unspoilt in that sense:) Wild & untouched..
But yes, I'd never pick ground elder, dandelion leaves'n'blossoms etc from urban areas - they'd be too polluted.

I blog about food over at Nami-nami ( http://nami-nami.blogspot.com/ )

Sheri R. 5 pts

kalyn: i've been enjoying your blog recently. come visit my food blog sometime. i'm talking every day about family food and lots of other fun stuff. plus, i'm linked to a pretty cool site that is working to offer all the restaurant menus for every U.S. city online in one spot.

thanks for the great reads!

sheri

toledolefty 5 pts

Supposedly there were no dandelions in this country before immigrants brought them to be a food source. And they apparently grow very well here.

My Italian family has been eating dandelions cooked and raw for a long time. My grandfather used to forage for chicory and mustard greens too.

----
Jen
http://yawwblog.blogspot.com
http://angryfatgirlz.blogspot.com
http://toledolefty.blogspot.com

Kuri 5 pts

One risk I looked for in these posts, is that your weeds may be survivors of herbicide or pesticide applications, especially if found on public property. (Except for Foodshed who said she'd stopped using them, but she didn't seem concerned that there might any lingering chemical residue.) I'd love to make the dandelions currently taking over my lawn useful, but there's a pretty high-risk that someone tried unsuccessfully to kill them with some sort of herbicide. So, I feel like I can't risk that.

Nordette Adams 6 pts

"Free food: Eat your weeds."
Well, you've got my attention. :-) I've heard of dandelion soup before, but mostly I hear about dandelion wine.

I'll say that when people who live in the city get to the point where they cook weeds beautifully and go foraging for snails then they truly love to cook. Thanks, Kalyn. I'll pass this on to my daughter.

"Love is liquid. Brew and be drunkards!" ~~Nordette ( http://jerseygoddess.blogspot.com/2007/04/april-is... ). And here's a link to the blog ( http://www.goddessblogs.com/ ).

Kalyn Denny 5 pts

Yes, eating your weeds is apparently quite trendy. I could have found more, but so many food blogs, so little time and all that.

I was very surprised last year how much I loved the taste of purslane when I ate it. This year I haven't seen much; I think it's a late-summer weed.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

Denise 9 pts moderator

That's one heck of a round up Kalyn! I never dreamed...

~Denise
Fast Times @ Homeschool High ( http://fasttimes.clubmom.com ) & Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net</a )