WILD SALAD RECIPE
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
• Lettuce of your choice • Edible weeds
• Edible flowers
• Sunflower, sesame or hemp seeds (optional)
• Salad dressing (optional)
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
1. First, make your favorite garden salad with your desired lettuce. This will serve as a base and
should take up only half of the final size of the salad.
2. Next, top it off with edible weeds. Don’t include nettle, since it must be cooked, dried or otherwise crushed before being eaten. Some of my favorite salad weeds are chickweed, mallow buttons or cheeseweeds, young mallow leaves, lamb’s-quarters, dandelion greens and sow thistle greens.
3. Last, sprinkle edible flowers on top. My favorite edible flowers are chamomile, calendula petals, mallow flowers, violets and pansies, nasturtium, sweet alyssum, sage blossoms and cornflower (pull the individual flowers from the tough flower head first).
4. If using seeds, top the salad with them and your favorite dressing.
Try your hand at foraging for food with this colorful and tasty salad.
DRYING AND STORING HERBS
Once you’ve gathered your desired herbs, the best way to use and preserve them is by drying them. “Drying your own herbs is remarkably easy,” writes Ashley. It can be as simple as scattering them along the bottom of an open, shallow basket and shifting them every few days so they don’t develop mildew. Or you can tie your herbs into bundles and hang them upside down. This makes for a great décor bonus in the kitchen or mudroom too.
“You could also use a dehydrator on a setting at or under 100°F, checking them a couple of times a day,” writes Ashley. The best way to tell when they’re done drying, for any method, is that they’ll crumble in your hands.
If you won’t be using all your herbs right away, make sure to store them properly to ensure they’ll last. “Their color, taste and medicinal qualities will last much longer if you store them in a dark, dry, cool place,” writes Ashley.