Free Food: Eat Your Weeds

[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.