Eat Your Weeds: Garlic Mustard Greens Pesto

I've got another invasive weed that's bad for native plants but good for you. Meet garlic mustard greens (Alliaria petiolata), one of the most common invasive weeds out there. Imported to the U.S. by European settlers in the 1860'a as a culinary and medicinal plant as well as to help prevent erosion, it quickly got out of the garden and went rogue, putting down roots as far north as Canada, as far south as Virginia and as far west as Kansas and Nebraska.

Although rather pretty, it's bad news for local ecosystems since it spreads like wildfire, is not appealing to deer (they don't like anything that tastes or smells of onions or garlic or has thorns, sadly), and produces chemicals that suppress the mycorrhizal fungi most native trees and plants require to thrive. Clever, eh? Even while I am yanking it up by the roots, I have to admire this plant's ability to survive and thrive.

Garlic mustard is a member of the mustard family (duh) and has a pronounced garlicky smell and flavor (duh again) in addition to the characteristic bite of mustard greens. All parts of the plant are edible at various points in the plant's two year life cycle although I have only ever tried the leaves which are best before the weather gets hot and they become more bitter.

Garlic mustard has a two-year life cycle. It begins life as a rosette of green leaves that stick close to the ground.

The plant overwinters under the snow (tough, as well as clever) and then shoots up during the spring of its second year before putting out white flowers in late spring and producing long seed pods during the summer that end up scattering everywhere once the plant dies and dries out.

Yank it up by the roots whenever you see it, especially before it has a chance to form those seed pods. If you're not sure what you're picking is actually garlic mustard, break a leaf and sniff - it should smell strongly of garlic. If not, leave it be as there are several native plants -- toothwort, sweet cicely and early saxifrage -- that produce white flowers and look similar enough to be confused for it.

But save some of what you pull up as it has an interesting flavor that is quite good in certain applications and it is also high in vitamins A, C, carotenoids, several minerals and fiber.

When you get your haul home, you'll need to wash it as there will undoubtedly be both dirt and insects clinging to its roots and leaves. I removed the leaves and washed them in several changes of water before drying them in the salad spinner. Since there is no shortage of this stuff out there, I used only the newer, tender leaves as they are not as bitter as the older, rounder leaves.

Then I got out the ingredients for pesto - Parmesan cheese, olive oil, salt, pepper and nuts. I used both pine nuts and also some toasted almonds. Had I had any basil on hand, I would have added that, too. I did not add garlic since the greens have their own allium appeal but if you do want to, I would consider sautéeing it first to cut down on its bite and enhance its natural sweetness.

I dumped it all into the Cuisinart and in less than a minute, I had a beautiful, bright green pesto with a mildly garlicky flavor and a definite bite. I would not use it exactly as I would use a traditional basil pesto because it lacks basil's sweetness. It needs to be paired with something more substantial than plain pasta but I used a generous amount of it to dress up some cheese tortellini and added some of my oven-roasted cherry tomatoes from the fall and it was delicious.

In general, I would consider adding some sort of roasted vegetable to the pasta when you use it - roasted butternut or delicata squash would be good as would broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant or tomatoes - anything that caramelizes nicely when roasted or has a good nutty flavor to it. And this pesto would make an excellent addition to a charcuterie plate, too.

Other ways to enjoy garlic mustard greens include:

• Add the leaves to salads (again, now is a good time to do this unless you're into bitter greens);
• Add the leaves to soups or stews - substitute them for the mustard greens in this recipe for curried chicken with kabocha squash and mustard greens;
• Toss some of the chopped leaves into mashed potatoes;
• Saute some garlic in olive oil and give the leaves a quick saute until wilted then add a splash of good balsamic vinegar, a pinch of sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper and consider adding a handful of currants and toasted pine nuts or almonds - substitute garlic mustard leaves for the spinach in this simple preparation if you want to follow a recipe;
• Blanch the greens and use them as you would collards, kale, chard or mustard greens. I had some with brown rice, tofu and peanut sauce recently.

You might also like:

Wood Sorrel, Yukon Gold & Egg Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette

Eat Your Weeds: Wild Garlic Chives

June is Mulberry Season & There's Probably a Tree Near You..

Eat Your Weeds: Strawberry Apple Japanese Knotweed Crisp

I hope, for your sake, that you've never set eyes on Japanese knotweed (fallopia japonica) because it is wildly invasive here in America - and most other places -and more or less impossible to get rid of. Knotweed grows extremely quickly - as much as three feet in just a few weeks - and can destroy building foundations, not to mention wreaking havoc on native ecosystems.

It's considered noxious enough to land a coveted spot on the IUCN's list of the world's 100 most invasive species where it hobnobs with things like gypsy moths, kudzu, mosquitoes, rats (my personal favorites), and more.

That said, it does have a few good points, as well, including:

1. Knotweed is an excellent source of resveratrol which some people believe has healing properties. Scientific proof is not abundant yet but it certainly can't hurt.

2. Knotweed's prolific white flowers provide plenty of nectar for honey bees and pollinators well into the fall, when other food sources are falling off.

3. Knotweed is edible as a tender young thang in early spring. The flavor is sour and a little earthy -- somewhat similar to rhubarb but definitely unique.

Which brings me to the reason for this post...

I've been hearing about eating knotweed for several years now but had never tried it. However, since two of our neighbors have massive (and fast-growing) knotweed patches, I figured I would give it a try. I think there's something rather primal about eating your enemies, don't you?

It turns out that in this case, at least, revenge is sweet. This crisp was a hit with my family.

It's easy to harvest Japanese knotweed but you need to catch it quite early in the spring when the stalks are still tender and only a foot or two high at the most. A good rule of thumb is not to pick anything taller than your knee or wider than your thumb as the shoots turn woody very quickly. Also, you'll know it's too late if you need scissors or a knife, the stalks should snap off when you bend them - similar to snapping a stalk of fresh asparagus.

Japanese knotweed has trowel-shaped green leaves, some of which can be variegated  (meaning they have white dots or stripes on them), hollow stems that are jointed like bamboo with a papery bit at the joints, the stems start out quite red (as do the leaves) and become greener as they age but always have this reddish spotting on them. In late summer and fall the plants bloom with large sprays of small white flowers.

Once you get them home, rinse them in cold water to remove any dirt or insects.

Then dry them off and cut off the leaves and any portions that seem too tough and chop the stalks into roughly one-inch pieces. I removed all the joints since they are tougher than the rest of the stalk. If you'd like, you can freeze some of the knotweed to use later - something I often do with rhubarb when it's in season.

I mixed the knotweed with apple, strawberry, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar to make a very tasty crisp.

The topping was a mixture of oats, almond meal, brown sugar, butter and a little salt. My mom-in-law gave me the idea to start using almond meal as a topping - it's a great addition.

We ate ours with vanilla ice cream. So good! The knotweed goes really nicely with the other fruit and the lemon zest which picks up its natural tartness.

If you want to give this dessert a try, do it ASAP since the window when the knotweed is tender enough to eat is truly brief.

-- print recipe --
Strawberry Apple Japanese Knotweed Crisp
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the filling
* 1 cup chopped knotweed
* 1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
* 1 1/2 cups chopped apples
* 1/4 cup cane sugar
* Zest of 1 lemon
* Juice of 1 lemon
* 1/8 tsp sea salt
* 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 1 tsp corn starch

For the topping
* 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
* 1/4 tsp sea salt
* 2/3 cup cane sugar
* 1/2 tsp cinnamon
* 1/8 tsp ground cloves
* 1 cup almond meal
* 1 cup oats

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease your baking dish - you can use a 9-inch pie dish or a 9 x 9-inch square dish. Make the filling: in a medium to large bowl, mix all the filling ingredients, stirring the cornstarch in last to mix with the juices. This will help keep the crisp from being runny.

2. Make the topping. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, stirring until everything is moist and mixed. Arrange the filling in a layer on the bottom of the baking dish and distribute the topping evenly over it.

3. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the fruit filling is bubbling and the topping is nicely browned. Let cool slightly and serve warm with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

You might also like:

Apple Crisp - Humble, Homey & Delicious

Ginger Rhubarb Johnnycake- A Seasonal Spring Dessert

Eat Your Weeds: Wood Sorrel, Potato & Egg Salad

Wineberry Lemon Balm Sorbet - A Wildly Good, Healthy Dessert

Wineberry season is in full swing in our neck of the woods. A quick trip up to our mailbox and along the road yielded two big yogurt containers of these glistening, jewel-like fruits. When we got back, we checked for ticks to avoid the dreaded Lyme disease and washed exposed skin with Tecnu to avoid the dreaded poison ivy.

An interesting, if nerdy, aside, wineberries and their brambley cousins, raspberries, blackberries, black raspberries, thimbleberries, etc., are not actually berries. They are what is called an aggregate fruit made up of lots of drupelets (individual seeds wrapped in yummy, juicy flesh) around a central core. But I just think of them as berries.

Anyway, back to the sorbet. We'd had such delicious results years ago with our wild blackberry sorbet that we decided to make it with some of our wineberry haul. And our five-year-old son was in on all the fun from start to finish. He even managed to contribute some berries instead of picking straight into his mouth like he usually does.

This kind of simple sorbet is very quick and easy though it melts super quickly so you have to eat it within minutes of getting it out of the food processor or blender. Not that that's any hardship...

Here's what you do:

Wash the "berries" and let them dry. Then arrange them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer.

Once they're frozen solid, remove them and take a moment to enjoy their lightly frosted beauty.

Then scrape them all into the bowl of a cuisinart (you can use a blender but it's much tougher, slower going).

Add simple syrup or chilled maple syrup. I used the remainder of my delicious lemon balm simple syrup to lend a citrusy, herbaceous note to the sorbet.

You may need to add a little ice water to get things moving but try to add as little as possible.

Blend it until it's smooth. There will still be seeds in it but we all enjoyed the little crunch they lend.

Put it in a bowl or a fancy glass and eat it before it melts. Or take your time, let it melt a bit and drink it, that's good, too.

The flavor is incomparable - sweet, of course, but with an indefinable slightly tart flavor that wakes up your mouth and makes you feel alive. Maybe it's the freshness, maybe it's the wild nature of the berries, I don't know. But it's really delicious.

I put what we did not scarf up into an ice cube tray to make some decadent wineberry lemon balm ice cubes to add to iced tea, lemonade or just a glass of seltzer for a refreshing treat.

Wild Wineberry Lemon Balm Sorbet
Serves 4

Ingredients

* 3 cups fresh wineberries, washed and dried
* 1/4 cup organic sugar
* 1/4 cup water
* A large handful of lemon balm leaves, washed and dried (optional - you can just make simple syrup if you prefer to leave the herby bit out)
* Ice water for blending

Directions
1. Lay the clean, drained berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer until frozen through. It is best to do both this and the next step the day or night before you plan to make the sorbet - just make sure you leave enough time for everything to freeze.

2. Make the herb-infused simple syrup by combining the water, sugar and herbs in a small heavy-bottomed saucepot and heat over a medium flame until it comes to a boil. Turn it off and let cool completely then strain out the leaves and put the simple syrup in a jar with a lid (I love these glass working jars and lids) in the fridge to chill.

3. Once the berries are frozen and the simple syrup is cold, you can make the sorbet. Place the frozen berries and and the simple syrup in the bowl of a cuisinart or blender.  You may need to add a few teaspoons of ice water to aid in the blending. Continue to process or blend, adding small amounts of the ice water as needed, until smooth. Eat it right away!

You might also like:

• Wild Wineberries - What You Need To Know About This VERY Edible Invasive
• Out of This World Chocolate Raspberry Tart
• Blueberry Yogurt Tart with Gingery Graham Cracker Crust

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