Nasturtium pesto

I posted ages ago about foraging nasturtiums and mentioned how a recipe or two might be helpful. One of the best uses of nasturtium I've found is making pesto. It's a little different from the familiar basil stuff, spicier finish but welcome anywhere other types are used and it can be substituted in any recipe that calls for pesto.

You will need:

A blender

2 cups (packed) nasturtium leaves
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts or toasted sunflower seeds
4 large cloves of garlic or a 1/2 cup (packed) of fresh garlic greens
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated Italian hard cheese, Parmesan or Romano work 

Gather enough nasturtium to fill a paper grocery bag most of the way. That'll really only give you about two cups of packed leaves. I don't use the stems and I avoid the larger leaves in favor of more tender and mild tasting small ones. Be sure to wash them well and remove most of the stems. You can throw in some flowers if you like the color or use them for garnish. (The flowers are also slightly less spicy and can soften the flavor if you like.) Once the leaves are washed and dried add them to a blender with the oil, garlic, nuts/seeds and cheese. Blend until the consistency is even and the ingredients are well blended.

It's that simple, tastes great and will keep for a couple weeks or so in the fridge. I made this batch to go with gnocchi, miner's lettuce and roast quail. Looking forward to more.

Wild edibles; Miner's lettuce

The San Francisco Bay area offers some incredible things for foragers. One of them is a lovely spring crop of miner's lettuce. Miner's lettuce, like Nasturtium, is a member of the Purslane family but unlike Nasturtium, lacks a spicy kick. Far more similar to spinach, it goes well in all manner of salads and makes very nice cooked green.

One of my favorite uses for Miner's lettuce is in a simple trail salad. Some of the areas where I climb are thick with it, as well as Nasturtium. I often bring along a tin of tuna packed in olive oil, a lemon, a small packet of soy sauce and forage greens as I go. It takes no time at all to build a fantastic salad you probably couldn't buy if you wanted to.


Earlier this week I ventured out with my mobile office(laptop and phone) and managed to forage enough Miner's lettuce, Nasturtium and Fennel to bring a pile back to Nook, one of our fantastic local cafes, where they were nice enough to use my wild treasure to make a meal fit to please even the most seasoned foodie. Though, I have to admit I'd almost eat grass if you added the right dressing, goat cheese, walnuts and some sultanas. In this case we added all of those as well as some tomatoes and Arugula. I think we decided it was the equivalent of eating a circus.

Yes please, and I'll be doing that again soon. As these posts come together it occurs to me that I may indeed be able to compensate for lack of space to grow as much as I'd like simply by settling on some regular foraging spots. The wild harvest is certainly out there for the taking.

Wild edibles; Pine needles

This one is about as simple as it gets and it's blissfully safe. All pines are edible so, as always, make sure you've got a pine. That shouldn't be too tough but you never know. If it's got needles and cones, it's a pine. There are a number of edible elements in addition to making tea with the needles, though chewing them raw is even a source of vitamins C and A. I have no idea if the heat from making the tea destroys the vitamins but it might.

You can also eat the inner bark. If you do it just right, it's possible to cut it into strips and use it like spaghetti. It certainly doesn't taste like pasta, but if it's available or all you have to eat, it's there.

To make the tea simply steep the needles in hot water the same way you would make any other tea. I like it with a little lavender and pine needle tea is admittedly somewhat of an acquired taste but nothing a little honey won't fix if you aren't in a "survival" situation and have access to it.

Pine needles can also be used to flavor breads and roast meats or fish. One nice thing about them is pines grow all over the place, so as a forager or survivalist, it's basically there for you from the Everglades to Seattle in all sorts of conditions and you can gather it as you walk meaning you expend very little extra effort or energy in your day to add another element to a foraged diet.

They're so readily available that I have never tried to dry them but I imagine you might be able to. I also use the needles to make baskets and freeze the needles for storage once in a while for that purpose. When I get them out they still smell fresh so I'd guess you could at least freeze them if they are scarce in your area.

Wild Edibles; Nasturtium

Distinctive Nasturtium foliage

Much like Dandelions, Nasturtiums are less often seen as a food crop and more as a decorative plant, but this South American plant captivated early explorers who took it back with them first to Spain and then over to England in the early 1500's where it's lovely, edible flowers and leaves continue to grace tables to this day. They have a reputation as a "grow anywhere" plant and indeed do well in containers and gardens alike. Here in the bay area they cover large swathes land on hillsides and in meadows to the extent that you'd think they were a native species and after a couple hundred years it's hard to tell the difference anyway.

Growing in a planter 

I'd been thinking about this post for a while and managed to get out and snap a quick photo but didn't have time to gather any. The leaves are on all year in this area but the flowers are more prevalent in warmer weather. I really have no excuse for not growing these in the yard other than the couple times I planted them we had prolonged dry spells while we were away and they didn't have time to establish themselves. Something I should remedy this spring with another planting or at least a potted plant or two.

Once in a great while you'll find the blossoms in markets and nicer groceries but I can't remember ever seeing the leaves available. Both blossoms and foliage have a spicy flavor and a pleasant texture and can be used in a number of ways from salads to cooked greens. The seed pods are also sometimes pickled and referred to as "poor man's capers". Though, I would wager, a jar of pickled Nasturtium would cost a bit more than a jar of capers if you could find anywhere to buy it.

As I write this, it occurs to me that recipes might also be of benefit so I'll try to gather some and post a recipe or two. While not overly popular these days, Nasturtium found it's way onto a lot of tables in the past. My best guess is that it will be one of the pop culture foodie plants we'll be seeing a lot more of before long. They have quite a bit more to offer beyond a splash of color in a salad.

Wild Edibles; Onions

While dandelions are kind of a no brainer in the foraging realm onions are less so. There are a couple species that look similar enough to lilies that tend to grow in the same places to cause problems. So this is one that is best taken to a plant expert for verification before you eat. They do smell like cultivated onions and it is possible to identify them by photos but the similar looking lily can be very toxic. Not something to take a chance on. A lot of locals call this variety "onion grass".

These grow wild over much of the San Francisco Bay area and, like dandelions, come up every year in our backyard. Not taking any chances, I uprooted a clump of them from root to blossom and took them to the botanical conservatory in Golden Gate park for positive identification and even then I used them sparingly until I was certain no one eating them was having an allergic reaction. These should be safe for anyone not normally allergic to onions.

So far I've used them cooked in egg dishes, added to both potato and onion soups and as a pizza topping. Ours don't get a lot of light and grow in a cool area but I have seen them at local farmers markets better than twice the size we have. The greens have a bit of bite but are more fragrant than flavorful and are very mild when cooked.

There are a number of varieties of wild onions across North America. So, it's probably worthwhile checking with a local wild plant expert to see if there are any in your area.

The next step for me will likely be cultivating these in containers. They've taken up residence in an old planter already and it's always nice to have some degree of control over the soil your plants grow in.

Wild Edibles; Dandelions

A pretty young plant floating in clean water 

Some people see foraging as a hobby, others as a survival skill or even a basic gourmet skill. In my case it's been a pretty basic thing for most of my life and not something I thought about too much until I moved to San Francisco. As cities go it's pretty fertile. Somewhat due to climate and some due to green spaces throughout the city. The parks here are among the largest in the country and there are even places where it's safe to gather wild edibles. One enterprising individual, somewhat regrettably so, was even running a business providing foraged food baskets with things gathered in the bay area. Regrettable in that he was running a commercial operation gathering on public land, the good/bad of that I'll leave for another discussion.

This is a good size for using the greens

I'll try to post about a few different plants, some of which are available almost everywhere. There is at least one invasive plant that is so ubiquitous as to be everywhere. Luckily it's useful from root to blossom. This first plant I'll mention is none other than the common Dandelion. It can be eaten by humans, fed to animals and even makes a wine with a growing niche popularity.

Brought to North America by early colonists, a number of sources agree there were none here before 1620 when the Mayflower arrived but that they were common by the 1670's. Anyone who has ever blown a dandelion seed head to the wind can attest to how easily they spread so this isn't too hard to believe. At one time the much maligned flower wasn't considered a weed at all and can still be found in produce aisles.

As for uses, the most simple is to take the youngest leaves you can find and cook them like any other green. They're similar to spinach with a bit more flavor. Larger leaves can be bater dipped and fried to make fritters or cooked with eggs to make frittata. The greens are usually a little more bitter than I like for salad but I've done everything with them from baking them into bread to adding them to quiche. I think one of the most interesting uses is using the roots as a coffee substitute or to stretch coffee the same way chicory is used. By itself, again, much like chicory, tastes a lot like burnt pencil shavings by itself but adds a pleasant smokiness to dark roast coffee.

As a cultivar it's one of the easiest things in the world to grow. I'd suggest either gathering them wild or replanting each season. The taproots get bigger over time and will cause even young greens to taste bitter. I've not tried to trade them but you might even find some vendors at farmers markets are interested in them once they get to know you a little and are assured you haven't gathered your plants on the side of the road or next to where you store your mower gas. If you have a patch of lawn you aren't using you might even consider sewing it with dandelions for a care free food crop that will literally take care of itself.

Some cautions might also be in order. Namely that some people are sensitive to a latex like compound in the leaves and stems. The white milky liquid was even explored for use as a rubber substitute during WW2. So, if you are new to eating dandelions it might be wise to try them cooked first and in small amounts. Another thing to know is that they contain diuretic compounds. So be careful with this plant until you know how it might effect you. The white sappy stuff is also what gives them a bitter taste as they get bigger. I have never heard of a non-edible variety but there are a few plants that look like dandelions. None of those I have encountered were toxic but they also wouldn't be considered desirable to eat.

When I gather, I typically toss the plants into a bucket of cool water. Some people suggest salt water, I'm not sure I'd waste the salt but it might help draw more of the bitterness out of the plant. I haven't tried freezing them but I'm sure it'd be much like freezing spinach. They're best used fresh.

This post is more intended to encourage exploring the use and cultivation of dandelions rather than serve as a recipe hub but if anyone is wants them email me and I'll post a few but there are many many recipes on the web just simple Google search away. I've also had success simply substituting dandelions for spinach in most any recipe I've tried.