Do prickly tumbleweeds pile on your house or nearby fence lines? If so, dinner may be close by. Before the spines firm up, you can boil the green shoots and tender branch tips of the developing plants for a mild, spinach-like green.
Our prickly tumbleweeds belong to plants in the genus Salsola. Young plants are not prickly, however, and those are the ones you’re after. Look for thin-fleshy, linear leaves. Although the leaves are bristle-tipped, the bristles are soft at first. Plants start out as wispy seedlings that hide in plain sight because they resemble grass.
As they grow and branch, they produce clusters of long, thin leaves at the branch tips. Early stems may be smooth, glassy, and succulent, or darker and rough with short, stiff hairs. They are usually green-striped at first, becoming red-striped and red-blushed at the junctures. In time the longer leaves drop off and shorter, prickly bracts develop.
Salsola species occur from the western prairies to the Pacific Coast, south to Mexico and north to Canada. There are significant populations in the Upper Midwest and Northeast too, especially along railroad tracks. They like full sun and dry, saline or alkaline soils, from high plains to semi-desert shrublands. Seedlings often form a straight trail where the mother weed tumbled.
You might think they’re native because they star in Old West films—but they were introduced to North America in the late 19th century. Two are widespread in the West—the very-prickly Russian thistle (Salsola tragus), with spiny bracts that point back, and slender Russian thistle (Salsola collina), pictured below, with bracts that point forward. All species look similar when young and can be used the same way.
Salsola season starts in mid to late spring—typically May or June on Colorado’s high plains and June or July in the high country. Plants pop up and grow quickly after rain. The greens are best when plump with stored water. I prefer greener plants with thicker leaves and succulent stems. Pinch off the stem and branch tips where they snap easily, before the leaf spines harden enough to prick you. You can eat the leaves together with the tender terminal part of the stems and branches to which they attach.
They are not good raw. To prepare, boil until tender—I like a good 10-15 minutes until they’re quite limp. Then you can enjoy them in any dish that calls for mild greens. Some species have a smoother texture than others.
Our wild salsolas have much in common with agretti (Salsola soda), a seasonal vegetable of central Italy’s cucina povera, or peasant cuisine. In Japan, a related species called “land seaweed” (Salsola komarovi) is used in soups, or blanched and tossed ae-mono in variety of dressings.
Here are two small-batch dressings to get you started. I like to boil and shock my greens in cold water, then dress and serve the salads cold.
Tamari-Sesame “Land Seaweed” Dressing
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1 Tbsp tamari
- 1/8 cup rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
Classic Italian Agretti Dressing
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
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