Sunday, May 15, 2016

Pernicious, Delicious

After locking everything up on the job, I picked a bumper crop of garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), a particularly nasty invasive weed which I added to my foraging repertoire last year:




The leaves of the plant have a pungent flavor similar to that of broccoli rabe, blanched and sauteed in olive oil, it makes a wonderful side dish for roast pork or a great addition to pasta (orecchiette or penne are my usual go-tos here). The weed also lends itself to being made into a nice pesto. It would also make a nice addition to a saag dish. The white taproots have a bite reminiscent of a more mild version of horseradish (Cochlearia armoracia), though they can have a 'woody' texture. I figure I'll slice them fine and add them to vinegar as an accompaniment to boiled meats.

For this batch, I am considering cooking the garlic mustard with lambs' quarters (Chenopodium album), a wild relative of quinoa, which are ubiquitous in my neighborhood, and adding the mixture to all sorts of dishes.

Garlic mustard is pernicious, but delicious... the struggle goes on, one plate at a time, but the fight is its own reward.

4 comments:

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

I cut some thistles that were growing to close to the mountain laurels (all are coming back from Bambi munching, albeit with a couple years of branches missing).

But I was traveling and didn't know how to handle them.

I left some more in front, although they are earmarked for butterflies and gold finches.
~

Robert Mcneilly said...

Daughter's condo association picks 60 bags a year and throws them out.
Weeds ya know. I have some in my yard. Have to try the pesto. Not today though. Today is poke day. Picked 6 stalks.

Robert Mcneilly said...

Looks like today is also prickly pear cactus day too!
Somedays life is really good.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

But I was traveling and didn't know how to handle them.

You have to peel off the spines from the stems, which taste like artichoke or cardoons. I usually keep a small knife and a pair of kitchen shears in my foraging bag.


Weeds ya know. I have some in my yard. Have to try the pesto. Not today though. Today is poke day. Picked 6 stalks.

Relevant... Poke's toxicity scares me off, even though I eat a lot of plants with a high oxalic acid content- I love wood sorrel.

Looks like today is also prickly pear cactus day too!

That is awesome. I love both nopales and tuna. I wish we had prickly pears by my neck of the woods.