Yesterday our friends gave us a tour of their huge, epic garden. I couldn’t believe the rows of radishes, compared to my little teensy garden space. Then they brought us over to a little nook where wild asparagus was growing. Asparagus is a regal and mighty plant which grows furiously amidst a mash of strong willed weeds. If I had a vegetable puppet show, asparagus would play the intellectual, savvy friend that everybody needs to have.
I’m eating delightful pickled green beans as I write this. Green beans I’ve hoarded since last fall, and now it’s time. Time to eat all those canned delicacies that haven’t already been gobbled up over the winter months. Gotta clear the space for all the new abundance coming our way. ps. I will post a recipe for those green beans once they are in season, soo good.
Always I am seeking new ways to bring dandelion in to the mix. This green is versatile, free and of course, everywhere! Wild greens are just that, wild. You are what you eat. I don’t want to be some manicured, tended to, doted over, pest infested lettuce. I would rather be a rugged, crazy, and sometimes out of control wild thing. But hey, I love lettuce too it’s just nice to dabble in some wild greens when they’re available. Make hay while the sun shines. Dandelion is a great detox food for the liver, it’s also high in iron and mildly diuretic. So get picking! (more…)
Ah Mushrooms, natures great gift, a brain underground, connected for miles mimicking our own neuro-pathways. If you’ve never seen the TED talk by Paul Stamets about 6 ways mushrooms can change the world, do so now, it’s absolutely brilliant.
Tis the season for morel mushrooms around these parts, though I have yet to find any. Elusive little gems they are, but my eyes are always scanning whenever we go for our walks. Morels would work well for this Forest Risotto as well. My lovely friend Aya gifted me with the dried chanterelles I used. She harvested them from her top secret patch nearby. We’ve only just met but she knows the way straight to my heart. I love wild mushrooms so much I even have one tattooed on my back…yep can’t get mush more hardcore than that. (more…)
It’s a great time of year to hop over to your friends garden and swoop up some healthy, free, delightful wild foods. Wood sorrel is one of my faves. It’s easy to eat heaps as it isn’t at all bitter and has a lemony zing akin to parsley-lemon zest gremolata. (more…)
Yesterday was our last day of epic sunshine before a spell of rain will hit for the next week. Luckily we got to spend it playing in the sun and eating a delicious meal with wonderful friends. Giselle, (who you would never believe is a grandma until you hand her your crying baby and he chills right out) she has a pond. In that pond she has an abundance of wild watercress that someone planted there 80 years ago. It’s amazing how one ingredient can excite me so much, it’s like a high, this euphoric excitement that doesn’t dissipate until something worthy of it’s loveliness is created. The cress was all congregated in the middle of the pond impossible to get at. But you know what impossible really means? Giselle sure does, she jumped right in there, up to her waist in gunk, to harvest the coveted plant that made this salad possible. I’m possible.
So this watercress stuff, you may be able to find it at a pond near you. It grows all over the US, southern Canada, Asia most places in Europe. Be sure to only harvest from clean water sources. Here is a good video if you’d like to learn more about this water loving plant.
Watercress has a slightly spicy slightly bitter taste to it so I paired it with some savoury sweetness to mellow things out. Crunchy candied walnuts and pumpkin seeds added good contrast to the cress and red onion kept things zingy. The dressing was a puree of apricot, lemon, parsley and oregano.
Here’s the full recipe
Happy Days, you know the ones, where the sun comes out unexpectantly lavishing you with the warm knowing that summer is just around the corner. After a week of rain it explodes forth surprising you that it won’t actually rain forever. No more excuses to eat just roast potatoes, gravy and beef for dinner every night, oh no, the days of endless soups are now behind us. Springs greenery is just the beginning of what’s to come. Summer is culinary excitement at it’s maximum, at least in the Kootenays where the 4 seasons are very distinguished. (more…)
