This is a healthy vegan version of my favorite dandelion soup. Called manest, it is an Italian soup traditionally made with bitter greens, vegetables, sausage, and cheese. I learned it from my father-in-law's late wife Carol, whose grandparents gathered dandelion greens in … [Read more...]
Japanese knotweed season
I’m breaking my fast this morning with stewed Japanese knotweed and peaches over Greek yogurt, topped with homemade granola. It’s a surprisingly nice combination—and beyond that, it’s very simple to make. I used last year’s harvest—which I had chopped and stewed with sugar and … [Read more...]
Best dandelion soup ever
Two years ago I was harvesting great quantities of dandelions greens from my back yard—which is located at 10,000 feet in Colorado’s high country—on April 7. Last year, we pushed our harvest back more than a month to May 22, when finally, after a wet rainy spell, the leaves … [Read more...]
Spring into wintercress
Wintercress is a lovely spring vegetable, ready in late April to early May on the plains, and mid to late May in the high country. The funny thing is, before I knew how to prepare it, I used to force feed it to myself. It was edible, after all—well-liked in some circles—and yet, … [Read more...]
Fun with wild waterleaf
Waterleaf is an interesting edible wild plant that does not get a lot of attention in the wild food media. The local species I know is Fendler’s waterleaf (Hydrophyllum fendleri), a native perennial that grows from Colorado’s Front Range west, in damp to moist soil mostly from … [Read more...]
