Here is a link for some interesting recipes:
http://www.prodigalgardens.info/chickweed recipes.htm
In case one is a forager, its important to carry some chickweed salads in your foraging experience to re- energize you when you are tired. But chick weed salads are not just for foragers only, anyone can sample these salads. From the yummy chickweed dressing, to the lemony Chickweed feta salad, to the chickweed egg salad and spring salad: they are all delicious to taste and wonderful treats.
Spring salad
This particular salad is great for ones foraging expeditions and wild food walks. They have spring flowers which add a special beauty and charm to this salad. This recipe is highly adaptable, and other edibles that can be obtained in your wild walks can be incorporated to this salad.
Ingredients Main ingredients are 3 cups chickweed and 3 cups of grated carrots (4 or 5 medium carrots.)
Remember: To these two main ingredients any of the below can be added
a. Watercress
b. Violet leaves and flowers
c. Small Dandelion leaves and flower petals
d. Chopped wild leeks
And any other edibles available in the wild can also be added.
Preparation Toss everything together.
It can be served marinated or with dressing on the side. Do sprinkle violet flowers and dandelion petals on the salad.
Lemony chickweed feta salad
Ingredients
The main ingredient is 5 cups tender Chickweed greens. Others are:
4 oz Feta cheese, crumbled
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 ½ Tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper, lemon pepper is the best
Preparations 1.) The chickweed greens and feta cheese are tossed together.
2.) Then mix up the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a separate bowl.
3.) Add dressing just before serving.
Remember: Prepare just enough salad you are going to eat at the moment. This salad spoils easily, so cant be stored for long times.
Chickweed egg salad
Ingredients
The main ingredient here is 4 hard boiled eggs and 2/3 cup chickweed greens, chopped. Other ingredients are:
1 tsp horseradish
1 Tbsp fresh chives
½ cup mayonnaise
Preparations
1.) Chop the eggs coarsely
2.) Then add chickweed greens, chives and horseradish and mix gently.
3.) Finally, add just the right amount of mayonnaise to coat all ingredients.
Creamy Chickweed dressing
This salad is a mine of exciting tastes, there is no way the salad experience gets better than these. In addition this salad is healthy.
Ingredients
Main ingredient is 2 cups fresh chickweed greens. Other ingredients are:
1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
½ cup yogurt
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp honey
¼ tsp salt
1 garlic clove
Dash of pepper
Preparations
1.) All the ingredients except the yogurt are blended together in a food processor or a blender.
2.) Then yogurt is added and blended gently until smooth.
The salad experience gets more elevated with the chickweed salads. Taste any of the scrumptious chickweed salads and you will want more and more
From learningherbs.com:
Chickweed pesto recipe
Here in Western Washington were having some early spring weather complete with sunny, warmer days.
Ive found theyve got me craving early spring greens, and I stumbled upon a friends garden that has an entire bed covered with lovely chickweed (Stellaria media). See the inset on the top left of the photo to check out its flower. It looks like 10 petals, but it is actually five.
This beautiful, delicate plant is one of my favorites, and Ive been enjoying chickweed in all sorts of ways over the last couple of weeks. Ive added it to my salads, made a cream cheese spread with fresh chickweed, basil and thyme, and even added chickweed to my lasagna.
The recipe we want to share with you for this branch though, is for chickweed pesto.
To make this wonderful early spring treat combine:
2 cloves of garlic, 3 Tablespoons of pine nuts or sunflower seeds, ¼ tsp. salt, 2 packed cups chopped fresh chickweed, ½ cup olive oil, and ½ cup Parmesan cheese in a blender...
THEN...Blend well!
Serve this over pasta or just use it as a dip for crackers or vegetables. You can even freeze some in case you decide to make a lot at once.
Its delicious and filled with nutritional value as well. A great example of food as medicine.
Chickweed is high in vitamin C, calcium, and iron as well as many other important minerals. It is also very nourishing for the lungs.
Eating chickweed also thins the membranes of your cells so that nutrients are more readily absorbed and utilized. Chickweed is used topically for skin eruptions, hemorrhoids, cuts, wounds, burns, etc. It is one of our favorite diaper rash remedies as well.
So, enjoy this early spring treat, knowing that it is one more amazingly healthy thing you can give to your body.
OH! Some tips on where to find clean, non-toxic supplies of chickweed... Check in winter garden beds, compost piles, fields in early spring where no one sprays herbicides, greenhouses (inside and around them) and at local organic farms. Farmers will be MORE THAN happy to give you their "weeds." Watch out for local parks or places that might be sprayed or get high pet traffic.
And from Fat of the Land website:
http://fat-of-the-land.blogspot.com/search/label/plants and herbs
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Chickweed Chimichurri...or Bust!
Chickweed Chimichurri. Sounds like an Arizona ghost town. In fact, it's a zesty sauce, and last week it seemed like everywhere I turned I was hearing oohs and aahs about this magnificent harbinger of summer. Chalk that up to the viral times we live in. My tweet pal Patricia Eddy of Cook Local blogged about Chickweed Chimichurri and then set the recipe loose on Twitter. Next thing you know half of Seattle is discovering the little-known delights of wild chickweed, yet another nutritious weed thriving on the margins of polite society. A farm called Nash's Organic Produce in Dungeness, WA, even sells it.
Well I had to have some. I'd seen chickweed plenty of times in more rural locales. It's a member of the pink family, and though the tiny white flowers are hardly noticeable, they have elegantly cleft petals that are characteristic of the group. Several weeds in different genera go by the name chickweed (there's common chickweed, mouse-ear chickweed, star chickweed, and so on), and they all share similar traits: opposite leaves, tiny flowers, et-cetera. What I hadn't realized was they're edible, even choice, if you use them right. And a chimichurri sause is using them right.
According to Wikipedia (so it must be true), chimichurri hails from Argentina, where it was invented by an Irishman named Jimmy McCurry who was fighting for Argentinean independence in the 19th century; the sauce's name is reputedly a bastardization of his name. Go figure. Anyway, the traditional way to prepare it is with parsley, vinegar, garlic, oil, and hot pepper.
This past week I kept an eye out for chickweed all over the neighborhoodwalking to the coffee shop or the bus stop, taking the kids to the park, wherever. If it was invading local farmers' fields (and being harvested and sold by the more industrious), then it probably had a foothold in the city, I reasoned, and sure enough, right across the street from my friend Kristin's house I found a lush patch of it growing from an untended rock garden next to the sidewalk. This was common chickweed (Stellaria media). I picked several handfuls and was off to the chimichurri races.
My recipe is based on Patricia's, which is based on Nash's, which is based on...oh never mind. You get the idea. Chickweed replaces the parsley and lemon juice replaces the vinegar. My tweak was to add sweet red pepper and shallot.
Tuna Poke with Chickweed Chimichurri
Chimichurri
1 packed cup chickweed, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp shallot, fine dice
3 tbsp sweet red pepper, fine dice
1 tbsp hot pepper, de-seeded, fine dice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Tuna Poke and Sushi Rice
1 lb sushi-grade tuna, cut into small (1/2 inch) cubes
2 cups sushi rice
rice vinegar to taste
Makes 4 servings.
Mix chimichurri ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate for an hour or so. Meanwhile make seasoned (i.e. add rice vinegar) sushi rice and cut up a bunch of sushi-grade tuna. Serve a dollop of the raw tuna over a bowl of rice; garnish with the chimichurri. The acidity of the chimichurri immediately begins to act on the tuna, changing the flavor in subtle ways as you eat.
Now, about the taste. A dish like this would seem to cry out for cilantro, but please resist. We all know what that tastes like. The greens in this case are far removed from parsley, cilantro, and other standard ceviche offerings. In a word, they're wild. The bright green flavor, somewhat tempered by the other ingredients, gives this Tuna Poke a new twist. Enjoy it on its own merits or as a change of pace, preferably outside on a sunny day with a bottle of rosé wine.
http://www.prodigalgardens.info/chickweed recipes.htm
In case one is a forager, its important to carry some chickweed salads in your foraging experience to re- energize you when you are tired. But chick weed salads are not just for foragers only, anyone can sample these salads. From the yummy chickweed dressing, to the lemony Chickweed feta salad, to the chickweed egg salad and spring salad: they are all delicious to taste and wonderful treats.
Spring salad
This particular salad is great for ones foraging expeditions and wild food walks. They have spring flowers which add a special beauty and charm to this salad. This recipe is highly adaptable, and other edibles that can be obtained in your wild walks can be incorporated to this salad.
Ingredients Main ingredients are 3 cups chickweed and 3 cups of grated carrots (4 or 5 medium carrots.)
Remember: To these two main ingredients any of the below can be added
a. Watercress
b. Violet leaves and flowers
c. Small Dandelion leaves and flower petals
d. Chopped wild leeks
And any other edibles available in the wild can also be added.
Preparation Toss everything together.
It can be served marinated or with dressing on the side. Do sprinkle violet flowers and dandelion petals on the salad.
Lemony chickweed feta salad
Ingredients
The main ingredient is 5 cups tender Chickweed greens. Others are:
4 oz Feta cheese, crumbled
1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 ½ Tbsp olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper, lemon pepper is the best
Preparations 1.) The chickweed greens and feta cheese are tossed together.
2.) Then mix up the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a separate bowl.
3.) Add dressing just before serving.
Remember: Prepare just enough salad you are going to eat at the moment. This salad spoils easily, so cant be stored for long times.
Chickweed egg salad
Ingredients
The main ingredient here is 4 hard boiled eggs and 2/3 cup chickweed greens, chopped. Other ingredients are:
1 tsp horseradish
1 Tbsp fresh chives
½ cup mayonnaise
Preparations
1.) Chop the eggs coarsely
2.) Then add chickweed greens, chives and horseradish and mix gently.
3.) Finally, add just the right amount of mayonnaise to coat all ingredients.
Creamy Chickweed dressing
This salad is a mine of exciting tastes, there is no way the salad experience gets better than these. In addition this salad is healthy.
Ingredients
Main ingredient is 2 cups fresh chickweed greens. Other ingredients are:
1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
½ cup yogurt
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp honey
¼ tsp salt
1 garlic clove
Dash of pepper
Preparations
1.) All the ingredients except the yogurt are blended together in a food processor or a blender.
2.) Then yogurt is added and blended gently until smooth.
The salad experience gets more elevated with the chickweed salads. Taste any of the scrumptious chickweed salads and you will want more and more
From learningherbs.com:
Chickweed pesto recipe
Here in Western Washington were having some early spring weather complete with sunny, warmer days.
Ive found theyve got me craving early spring greens, and I stumbled upon a friends garden that has an entire bed covered with lovely chickweed (Stellaria media). See the inset on the top left of the photo to check out its flower. It looks like 10 petals, but it is actually five.
This beautiful, delicate plant is one of my favorites, and Ive been enjoying chickweed in all sorts of ways over the last couple of weeks. Ive added it to my salads, made a cream cheese spread with fresh chickweed, basil and thyme, and even added chickweed to my lasagna.
The recipe we want to share with you for this branch though, is for chickweed pesto.
To make this wonderful early spring treat combine:
2 cloves of garlic, 3 Tablespoons of pine nuts or sunflower seeds, ¼ tsp. salt, 2 packed cups chopped fresh chickweed, ½ cup olive oil, and ½ cup Parmesan cheese in a blender...
THEN...Blend well!
Serve this over pasta or just use it as a dip for crackers or vegetables. You can even freeze some in case you decide to make a lot at once.
Its delicious and filled with nutritional value as well. A great example of food as medicine.
Chickweed is high in vitamin C, calcium, and iron as well as many other important minerals. It is also very nourishing for the lungs.
Eating chickweed also thins the membranes of your cells so that nutrients are more readily absorbed and utilized. Chickweed is used topically for skin eruptions, hemorrhoids, cuts, wounds, burns, etc. It is one of our favorite diaper rash remedies as well.
So, enjoy this early spring treat, knowing that it is one more amazingly healthy thing you can give to your body.
OH! Some tips on where to find clean, non-toxic supplies of chickweed... Check in winter garden beds, compost piles, fields in early spring where no one sprays herbicides, greenhouses (inside and around them) and at local organic farms. Farmers will be MORE THAN happy to give you their "weeds." Watch out for local parks or places that might be sprayed or get high pet traffic.
And from Fat of the Land website:
http://fat-of-the-land.blogspot.com/search/label/plants and herbs
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Chickweed Chimichurri...or Bust!
Chickweed Chimichurri. Sounds like an Arizona ghost town. In fact, it's a zesty sauce, and last week it seemed like everywhere I turned I was hearing oohs and aahs about this magnificent harbinger of summer. Chalk that up to the viral times we live in. My tweet pal Patricia Eddy of Cook Local blogged about Chickweed Chimichurri and then set the recipe loose on Twitter. Next thing you know half of Seattle is discovering the little-known delights of wild chickweed, yet another nutritious weed thriving on the margins of polite society. A farm called Nash's Organic Produce in Dungeness, WA, even sells it.
Well I had to have some. I'd seen chickweed plenty of times in more rural locales. It's a member of the pink family, and though the tiny white flowers are hardly noticeable, they have elegantly cleft petals that are characteristic of the group. Several weeds in different genera go by the name chickweed (there's common chickweed, mouse-ear chickweed, star chickweed, and so on), and they all share similar traits: opposite leaves, tiny flowers, et-cetera. What I hadn't realized was they're edible, even choice, if you use them right. And a chimichurri sause is using them right.
According to Wikipedia (so it must be true), chimichurri hails from Argentina, where it was invented by an Irishman named Jimmy McCurry who was fighting for Argentinean independence in the 19th century; the sauce's name is reputedly a bastardization of his name. Go figure. Anyway, the traditional way to prepare it is with parsley, vinegar, garlic, oil, and hot pepper.
This past week I kept an eye out for chickweed all over the neighborhoodwalking to the coffee shop or the bus stop, taking the kids to the park, wherever. If it was invading local farmers' fields (and being harvested and sold by the more industrious), then it probably had a foothold in the city, I reasoned, and sure enough, right across the street from my friend Kristin's house I found a lush patch of it growing from an untended rock garden next to the sidewalk. This was common chickweed (Stellaria media). I picked several handfuls and was off to the chimichurri races.
My recipe is based on Patricia's, which is based on Nash's, which is based on...oh never mind. You get the idea. Chickweed replaces the parsley and lemon juice replaces the vinegar. My tweak was to add sweet red pepper and shallot.
Tuna Poke with Chickweed Chimichurri
Chimichurri
1 packed cup chickweed, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp shallot, fine dice
3 tbsp sweet red pepper, fine dice
1 tbsp hot pepper, de-seeded, fine dice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
Tuna Poke and Sushi Rice
1 lb sushi-grade tuna, cut into small (1/2 inch) cubes
2 cups sushi rice
rice vinegar to taste
Makes 4 servings.
Mix chimichurri ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate for an hour or so. Meanwhile make seasoned (i.e. add rice vinegar) sushi rice and cut up a bunch of sushi-grade tuna. Serve a dollop of the raw tuna over a bowl of rice; garnish with the chimichurri. The acidity of the chimichurri immediately begins to act on the tuna, changing the flavor in subtle ways as you eat.
Now, about the taste. A dish like this would seem to cry out for cilantro, but please resist. We all know what that tastes like. The greens in this case are far removed from parsley, cilantro, and other standard ceviche offerings. In a word, they're wild. The bright green flavor, somewhat tempered by the other ingredients, gives this Tuna Poke a new twist. Enjoy it on its own merits or as a change of pace, preferably outside on a sunny day with a bottle of rosé wine.
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