5 Super Foods You Thought Were Just Weeds · 5 Super Foods You Thought Were Just Weeds By Leda Meredith, author of Northeast Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Beach Plums

©2015 Leda Meredith

5 Super Foods You Thought Were Just Weeds

By Leda Meredith, author of Northeast Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Beach Plums to Wineberries


These five wild edible plants are packed with flavor and nutrients, and I can promise you that if

you live in the northern hemisphere, you've encountered most of them. You've likely weeded

them out from between your home-grown vegetables, and tossed them into your compost bin.

You also may have paid for some of them because many chefs are great foragers. At least three

of these plant are regulars on high-end restaurant menus.

The information that follows includes everything you need to know to be able to safely and

sustainably identify, harvest and enjoy eating these five super wild vegetables. But please

remember the first rule of foraging:

Always be 100% certain of your plant identification. If in doubt, leave it out.

Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Chickweed is a mild-flavored, versatile green that can be harvested even in winter in many areas.


Identifying Chickweed

Chickweed never gets more than a foot tall and is usually much shorter. That growth habit is an

important part of its ID. Where it is exposed to full sun it can be a ground-hugging mat, but in partial

shade with moist soil it becomes a tender, tangled mass at least several inches high.

Chickweed has opposite leaves, which means they join the stem in pairs. The leaves are tiny,

usually around 1/2-inch long and half as wide. Their little pointy-tipped ovals have smooth edges.

The flowers are even tinier. They are about 1/8-inch diameter with 5 white petals that are so

deeply cleft they look as if they are actually 10 petals. Turn the flowers over and you'll see that each

has 5 green sepals.


But the clincher for identifying chickweed is that if you look at it through a magnifying lens, or

hold it up to sunlight, you'll see a single line of hairs running up the stem. The flower buds are hairy all

over, but the stems just have that single line of hairs, like a mohawk.

When and Where to Find Chickweed

I think chickweed is at its best in cool weather when it is tender and lush. In the full heat of

summer it gets stringy and tough, although you can still usually find some worth harvesting in slightly

shady places. But mostly look for it in spring and fall, and even winter in some areas.

Chickweed is common in gardens, city parks, farms and other places where humans have

disturbed the soil.

How to Harvest Chickweed

The best way to harvest chickweed is to give it a “haircut.” Find a tender patch that is several

inches tall. Reach in and gather a bunch of the stems in one hand as if you were holding a bouquet.

With the other hand, twist or snip (with scissors) the top 2 to 3 inches of chickweed. When you harvest

this way you actually encourage that patch of the plant to become even more lush, ensuring future

harvests.

All of the aerial parts of chickweed are edible, including the stems, leaves, and flowers.

Stellaria media is an invasive European species. There is no concern about endangering this

plant in the Northeast. However, if you wish to be able to harvest many times from a particularly good

patch, follow the cut-and-come-again instructions above.

Warning: There is a poisonous plant called spotted spurge (Euphorbia maculata) that beginner

foragers might confuse with chickweed. The best way to make sure you've got chickweed, not spotted

spurge, is to break off a stem. The spurge will ooze a white sap and chickweed will not.

How to Eat Chickweed


For the best texture raw or cooked, chop chickweed into pieces about 1-inch long.

Chickweed is great raw in salads or used instead of lettuce in sandwiches. It is also excellent

steamed, briefly sauteed in very little water, or stir-fried.

You can also make a terrific pesto with chickweed. Puree raw chickweed with good quality

olive or other oil in a blender. Blend in garlic (or field garlic), walnuts, pinenuts, or other nuts, salt and

pepper (or peppergrass) to taste, and optional grated cheese. I like to mix chickweed with more potently

flavored greens such as garlic mustard for a stronger tasting pesto. Here's a video on how to make wild

greens pesto.

Preserving Chickweed

You can freeze chickweed pesto, but it's a good idea to first briefly blanch the chickweed in

boiling water for 1 minute. Then immediately drain the chickweed and transfer it to ice water to stop

any residual cooking. Without this blanching step, your frozen pesto will turn almost black when you

thaw it. With the blanching, it will keep its bright green color. Make the pesto as above, or just the

chickweed oil (you can add the rest of the ingredients later). Freeze it in small amounts so that you can

take out just what you want later on. An ice cube tray is one way to do this: once the pesto is frozen,

transfer the cubes to tightly sealed and labeled freezer bags or containers.

Blanching and then freezing is also the best way to preserve plain chickweed greens.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Once considered the bane of lawn owners, dandelion has become the darling of restaurant chefs. It

gives us salads, cooked greens, wine, a coffee substitute, a root vegetable, several kinds of medicine,

and I'm just getting started...


Identifying Dandelion

Dandelion leaves grow in a rosette pattern, which means that the leaves all grow out from a

central point where they connect to the taproot. The name dandelion comes from the French dents de

lion, which means teeth of the lion, and indeed they have sharply indented and pointy edges like

multiple fangs. There are a few plants such as chicory with leaves that are similar to dandelion's and

initially grow in a rosette. The points of dandelion's “teeth” face straight out or back towards the leaf

base rather than towards the tips, which is not true of the lookalikes.

Dandelion's bright yellow flowers up to 1 1/2-inches across emerge from the center of the leaf

rosette. They shoot up on a leafless, unbranched, hollow stalk. There is one flower on each stalk, and

each flower is composed of numerous small ray flowers that most people think are petals.

The mature plant exudes a milky sap that has been used for treating warts. The taproot of this

originally European plant is light brown on the outside and grayish-white on the inside. The rounded

seed heads are familiar to most children who love to blow the fluffy seeds away on the wind.

Where and When to Find Dandelion


Look for dandelions in sunny, meadow-like conditions such as lawns. They are also adept at

thriving in sidewalk cracks and along the edges of paths and fields.

In mild winters or during winter thaws you will sometimes see dandelion leaves growing almost

flush with the ground.

Collet the leaves and crowns during cool weather any time up until the plants flower in the

spring. In mid-spring and summer, the leaves of plants growing in full sun become too bitter to use.

Collect the flowers during their peak bloom time in mid-spring. After mid-spring you may see a

sporadic dandelion flower but don't try to collect them in quantity except during that first big spring

flush.

The roots are in season year round, although for use as a vegetable they are best in very early

spring.

How to Harvest Dandelion

You can pick off individual leaves in early spring before they get too bitter, but a more practical

way is to harvest the entire leaf rosette, as well as the “crown” or upper portion of the root where the

aerial parts begin. Do this by gathering the rosette of leaves together in one hand and then coming in at

a shallow angle with a knife just below the soil surface. You will probably get a few of the flower buds

that are nestled at the base of the leaves – they are delicious, too.

Dandelion is a perennial that regrows from even a small chunk of its root left in the soil. This

means that if you find an especially good dandelion patch you can return and harvest from it year after

year, even if you are harvesting the roots. There is a gardening tool called a dandelion weeder that

works well for digging out the roots, but you can also use a trowel or a digging stick.

Collect the flowers when they are fully opened by pinching them off just below the calyx (the

green base of the yellow flower head).


The dandelion is a European plant has been doing just fine at ensuring its future generations

ever since it arrived in North America. Not only does it spread by windblown seed, but it will also

propagate from just a piece of the root left in the ground. This means that even a plant from which you

slice off the entire leaf rosette and crown will regenerate and grow new leaves from what's left of the

root in the ground. As with the other weeds discussed here, there are no sustainability issues around

harvesting dandelion.

How to Eat Dandelion

Dandelion's early spring leaves are excellent raw in salads or cooked. If you harvested the

crown along with the leaves, use a vegetable brush or tooth brush and a big bowl or sink full of water to

scrub out the soil that tends to adhere to the top of the root. Chop the crowns and leaves together and

stir-fry, steam or quickly boil them.

Use the flowers to make wine (here is my dandelion wine recipe), or fritters, or chop them up and

add them to omelets.

The root can be chopped, roasted and ground for a tasty, non-caffeinated coffee substitute. Chop

the fresh roots fine before roasting in a 300°F oven until they are as dark as you like your coffee beans.

Grind in a coffee grinder and brew as you would coffee. Be sure to chop the roots before you roast

them or they will become incredibly hard and could challenge your coffee grinder.

You can also use the roots as a stew or soup vegetable. I think this is the least interesting-tasting

way to eat dandelion, but maybe that's just me.

All parts of the dandelion plant are medicinal and provide a useful tonic for the digestive system

and the liver. Dandelion is also an effective diuretic, one of the few that does not deplete the body of

potassium. Another French name for dandelion, pissenlit (to wet the bed), refers to this use. The plant

is at its most valuable as medicine just when it becomes too bitter to be palatable in late spring and

through the summer. That bitterness comes from the presence of medicinally active alkaloids.

Preserving Dandelion


Blanching and then freezing dandelion leaves and crowns is the best way to preserve them. The

roasted roots destined to be a hot beverage are a fully dehydrated product and keep indefinitely.

Dandelion wine is better after aging several years.

Lady's Thumb (Polygonum persicaria)

If you have a farm or garden, or even if you just spend time in public parks, then I can almost guarantee

that you have seen this under-utilized wild vegetable.

Identifying Lady's Thumb

Lady's thumb is an annual plant with slender, branching stems that grow up to 3 1/2-feet long.

The stems are often reddish and wiry, but they are never woody. The lance-shaped, alternate leaves are

2–6 inches long and usually an inch or less wide with smooth margins. They sometimes have a faint

dark spot in the center, which someone supposedly thought looked as if a lady's thumb had bruised the

leaf (someone with way too much time on their hands).

At the nodes where the leaves attach to the stems, the petioles (leafstalks) are wrapped in small

sheaths tipped with hairs.


The flowers are narrow clusters of tiny pink or very occasionally white flowers that look as if

the buds haven't opened yet, except that they never will. Those tiny “buds” are the whole show.

Where and When to Harvest Lady's Thumb

Wherever there is the combination of full to partial sunlight and disturbed soil, there is likely to

be lady's thumb. Look for it in gardens, farmlands, and parks.

Gather lady's thumb leaves from mid-spring through early fall. Some patches of lady's thumb

produce stronger tasting leaves than others. Nibble one before collecting more to see if the Polygonum

persicaria plants you've found suit your taste.

How to Harvest Lady's Thumb

Break off whole stems with the leaves attached. Although you'll want to pinch off the tender

leaves before you eat them (the stems are too stringy), they will stay fresh longer if you transport them

still attached to the stems.

Lady's thumb is yet another invasive species. Although there are plants that you have to be

careful not to over-harvest, Polygonum persicaria is not one of them.

How to Eat Lady's Thumb

I like lady's thumb leaves combined with other raw greens in salads. They can also be steamed,

stir-fried, or boiled.

Preserving Lady's Thumb

Lady's thumb leaves can be blanched and frozen.

Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium album)

I recently saw lamb's quarters for sale under the name “wild spinach” at four times the price of


cultivated spinach. This silky-textured, mild and nutritious green is a frequent volunteer in gardens and

on farms.

Identifying Lamb's Quarters

The first set of lamb's quarters true leaves show up opposite (paired), but subsequent leaves join

the stems in an alternate arrangement. The leaves, especially the smaller young leaves at the tips, have

a mealy white coating that you can rub off with your fingers. That coating is one of the main

identification characteristics that distinguishes lamb's quarters from other wild greens with similarly

small leaves. It causes water to bead up on the leaves rather than coating them.


Another thing to check is that lamb's quarters has no noticeable scent, unlike its cousin epazote

that smells strongly of turpentine. The lower leaves are more or less triangular with soft, rounded teeth

at the margins. Upper leaves are smaller and elliptical.

Lamb's quarters stems are often grooved and tinged with red or reddish-purple.

The miniscule green flowers show up in branching clusters. The edible seeds, when ripe, are

black and also tiny.

Lamb's quarters is frequently infested by leaf miner bugs. You'll know that's what has happened

if you see what looks like little zigzagging trails on the leaves. Not dangerous, but definitely not

appetizing (I skip those leaves).

Where and When to Harvest Lamb's Quarters

Look for lamb's quarters in full to partial sun on disturbed soils. It loves farms and formerly

cultivated fields, city parks, gardens, and roadsides if they are not too dry. It also grows abundantly in

empty lots. It is never a smart idea to forage in areas that may be polluted, but with lamb's quarters

plants it is especially important. They can accumulate potentially toxic nitrates from the soil.

Chemically farmed (non-organic) fields are especially suspect. Plants containing nitrates are not

usually a problem for healthy adults, but should not be fed to infants.

Gather lamb's quarters leaves and tender stems from mid-spring through early fall. Collect the

seeds from late summer into fall.

How to Harvest Lamb's Quarters

Like other delicate leafy greens, lamb's quarters shrinks down a lot as it wilts during cooking.

So if you want to end up with a cup of cooked lamb’s quarters, you’ll need to start out with something

like 10 cups of the raw leaves. Luckily, it is easy to collect a lot of the greens quickly. Simply snap off

the top 2 - 8 inches of the branching stems. So long as the stems are tender, you can eat those, too.


To harvest the seeds, first shake a stem over your hand. If the seeds are ripe, some of them will

fall out into your hand. Cut or pinch off entire clusters of the ripe seeds and let them dry in cloth or

paper bags for a few days. Dump out the lamb's quarters seed heads into a large mixing bowl. Gently

roll the seed heads between the palms of your hands to release the seeds. Discard the stems and larger,

easy to pick out clumps of chaff.

Lamb's quarters is an invasive weed and there is no sustainability issue around harvesting it.

How to Eat Lamb's Quarters

When steamed, very briefly boiled, or stir-fried lamb's quarters leaves have a silky texture that

reminds me of cooked spinach. You can eat them raw, too, but I prefer the texture of the leaves when

they are cooked. Lamb’s quarters leaves are good in anything cooked spinach is good in. Actually,

lamb’s quarters is a better-tasting vegetable, in my opinion. So, yes to omelets and frittatas, ravioli

filling, dip, lasagna, etc.

Lamb’s quarters is a nutritional rock star. Just one cup of the chopped leaves gives you 14071

IUs of vitamin A (281% of your daily requirement), 464 mgs of calcium (46%), and 67 mgs of vitamin

C (111%).

Winnow the chaff out by taking a bowl of lamb's quarters seed heads outside on a breezy day

(or setting it up in front of a fan). Rub the seed heads between your hands to release any seeds that

haven't already come loose. Scoop up handfuls of the seed and chaff and slowly pour it back into the

bowl from about a foot above the bowl. The chaff will blow away while the heavier seeds drop back

into the bowl. Don't bother trying to separate 100% of the chaff from the miniscule seeds. Just call it

fiber and forget about it. The seeds (plus a little chaff) can be added to baked goods and breakfast

cereals or cooked like quinoa.

Preserving Lamb's Quarters

Lamb's quarters leaves can be blanched and frozen. The seeds, once dried, keep well for

months.


Purslane (Portulaca oleracea, P. oleracea sativa)

Purslane shows up frequently in European farmers' markets, and is gaining popularity in North

America. Not only is it a unique and tasty ingredient, but it is also one of the few vegetable sources of

omega-3 fatty acids.

Identifying Purslane

Purslane rarely grows more than a few inches high but can spread horizontally up to 2-feet

across (though often much less). It has thick, reddish, succulent stems. Its oval to spade-shaped leaves,

1/4 to 1 1/4-inches long, remind me of a miniature jade plant. It has small yellow flowers with five

petals, and oval seed capsules that split around their middles to release many tiny black seeds.

Where and When to Harvest Purslane

Purslane loves the warm weather of late spring and summer. Look for it in full sun spots with

disturbed soil, especially in or near gardens, parks, and farmlands. Its succulent leaves and stems


enable it to flourish even when summer droughts and heat waves have taken their toll on other leafy

green edibles.

How to Harvest Purslane

Break off purslane's thick, succulent stems a few inches above the soil surface – the lower stems

and leaves usually have a lot of dirt clinging to them. All of the above ground parts of purslane are

edible, so don't worry if some of the tiny flowers or seed capsules find their way into your collection

bag. You could try to collect enough of the miniscule seeds to do something with, perhaps using them

as a muffin or other baked good addition, but the leaves and stems are the main things you're after.

As many a gardener has found out to her chagrin, a purslane plant yanked out of the soil as a

weed and tossed aside will continue to ripen and spread its seeds even after it is uprooted. If you want

to ensure that a particular patch of purslane continues to provide food year after year, just leave a few

of the plants in a patch alone. But you don't need to worry about over-harvesting this plant.

How to Eat Purslane

Raw, purslane has a slightly sour taste and pleasant crunch. It is good on its own or added to

other salad ingredients.

Cooked, purslane is slightly mucilaginous. That makes it good for thickening soups and stews.

It pairs well with potatoes, and I've also used it instead of okra in Creole-style gumbo recipes.

The thick stems make good purslane pickles (save the leaves for another use).

An added perk of purslane is that it contains healthy omega-3 fatty acids just as fish does.

Preserving Purslane

The best way to preserve purslane is to pickle the stems. It's thick, mucilaginous stems don't

hold up well when canned or frozen, and are too juicy to dehydrate well. One of my favorite ways to


pickle and preserve purslane is as relish, and here is a video that shows how to identify purslane and turn it

into relish, with a link to the recipe.

I hope you'll use this information to safely harvest and eat these common but delicious wild foods. If

you want to learn more, please pre-order Northeast Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Beach Plums to

Wineberries. It will be out in April 2014.

You can find more about my work with foraging, food preservation, and sustainable food systems on

my video channel, and at foodpreservation.about.com.

Advance Reviews for Northeast Foraging:

“Leda Meredith has produced the best foraging guide for the Northeast--a book that wild food gatherers

of all skill levels will want to own.”

---Sam Thayer, author of The Forager’s Harvest and Nature’s Garden

“Leda Meredith’s “Northeast Foraging” is that rare field guide where you sense the guide is a living

presence right beside you as you are out foraging for edible wild plants. Leda writes with such a

personable “trailside” manner that you come to feel you’re having a conversation with her about what


you’re finding, how to be certain it’s what you want, and how to gather and prepare it for eating or

preserve it for later use. This is as close as you can come to having the author take you by the hand.”

—Gary Lincoff Author of The Joy of Foraging and instructor at The New York Botanical Garden

“Leda Meredith possesses a depth of knowledge about wild edible plants surpassed by few modern

foragers, and her Northeast Foraging will become an invaluable guide for the feast in the East. I

especially love her tips on preserving the wild harvest -- Nature waits for no one, and Meredith knows

you must gather while you can. I will be sure to carry this book with me whenever I am east of the

Great Plains.”

—Hank Shaw

Author of the James Beard Award–winning website Hunter Angler Gardener Cook,

Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast, and Duck, Duck, Goose: Recipes and Techniques for

Cooking Ducks and Geese

"Mandatory guide for any Chef who is serious about foraging in the northeast; wall-to-wall guidebook for beginners and

seasoned foragers."

—Tom Kearny, Chef at The Farm on Adderley

Documents

5 Super Foods You Thought Were Just Weeds · 5 Super Foods You Thought Were Just Weeds By Leda Meredith, author of Northeast Foraging: 120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Beach Plums