Dandelion Roots with Thai Green Curry and Dandelion Tea

Dandelion Roots with Thai  Green Curry and a cup of Dandelion Leaf Tea


Who ever thought gardening would serve up a great a creation...well dandelions are hip!

© Fig 1.L.Moore Dandelion Roots 

© Fig 2.L.Moore Dandelion Roots

© Fig 3.L.Moore Washed Dandelion Roots

© Fig 4.L.Moore Washed Dandelion Roots

© Fig 5. Thai Green Curry with Dandelion Roots

I know it is probably hard to believe that I am no gardener. Though I love to forage gardening is not what floats my boat. However yesterday being a glorious sunny day I thought it was high time I did some gardening before it disappeared through the overgrowth. So I started plucking weeds and other unknowns from my garden where I got more than I bargained for.

I had so many edibles I didn't quite know what to do with them...hence dandelion roots with my Thai Green Curry...yum. I had so many dandelions I felt guilty dumping them. So because I had been on the wine the night before I made a dandelion tea which is apparently amazing for the liver (especially if you have had a night on the booze).Yep it gets the liver juices going and looks after it...hooray to dandelions they are so dammed good for you. A word of warning with dandelion tea it is rather  bitter so it is best to dilute it a bit and have it with a good spoon of honey. The last time I had dandelion roots was in the winter when they were big and fat.

Dandelion Tea
As much dandelion leaves as you like (fill half a pan) washed and drained
Cover with water
Simmer for about 15 mins until the water turns a good green colour

© Fig 6.L Moore Dandelion Leaf Tea

You can dilute it down like a cordial and add hot water and honey to make a mild tea or use it straight from the pan so it is dark green and pungent with honey (use a tea strainer to get a clear tea). You can even have this cold with soda water and honey (put the honey in the warm water first and then wait until it cools and place in the fridge). It does make a refreshing drink and it is good for you. Dandelions are packed with vitamins (K,A,C,E), minerals (Calcium, Manganese, Iron, Potassium)  and nutrients (fiber, protein, carbohydrates). One thing about dandelion is that is does not strip the body of potassium.

So back to my meal.

It's such a treat when your dinner is shaped by good old weeds from the garden. Now that's magic! I chose the largest dandelions to uproot and eat. If your dandelions are quite small believe me it is not worth the labor of peeling these knobbly little edibles (not unless you have all day). When digging up the dandelions be careful not to break the roots. Dig the surrounding area around your plant as these roots can go quite deep. Gently pull it up and twist off the root with your hands. Then wash the roots in warm water and then begin to scrape them with a small knife and/or scouring pad. When they are nice and clean and white chop them up and they are ready to stir fry.

Stir fried dandelion roots
1 tbs coconut oil in a wok
A couple of handfuls of dandelion roots
2 cloves of garlic

Get your wok good (with your coconut oil) and hot and then add your dandelion roots stirring quickly for about 3 minutes then add your garlic for a further 1 minute and your done. I took these out the pan and then made my Thai Green Curry and then added the dandelion roots later to the curry and it was lovely. I did try the dandelion roots raw and they were a bit bitter. I think dandelion roots taste better in the winter before the plant flowers because the roots are fuller and fatter and less bitter. During the winter I boiled the roots and had them with butter and they were delicious. The roots have more medicinal properties in them in the winter and are sweeter. However for this time of year it is a great way to use them up..yum.

Thai Green Curry
3 lime leaves
1 tbs thai green curry paste
1 tbs coconut oil
1 bunch fresh coriander
2 hand fulls of dandelion roots (previously stir fried)
1 handful of frozen peas and any other vegetables you fancy (I used broccoli)
1 tin of coconut milk
2-3 fresh chicken breasts

I usually make my own curry paste.

My thai green curry was not planned (I was coerced into making it with an abundance of dandelions LOL) so I used some thai green curry paste instead which was also good. In my opinion there is only one ready made high street brand that I think is worth using and that's 'Mae Ploy'. SO heat your wok up so it's nice and hot then add you coconut oil then your curry paste. Give it a good stir and fry it off then add your coconut milk slowly and lower the heat. Give that a good stir and now add your lime leaves, chopped coriander root and diced chicken breasts and simmer for about 20-30 mins on low. Halfway through I added my dandelion roots to soften a bit more. Lastly I added the last of my coriander leaves and served with some basmati rice...slurp...gulp...yum.

Then (I know it's not sexy) I had a cup of dandelion tea afterwards. What a dinner... thank you dandelions! I will keep the tea in my fridge and have it daily with some honey.

Below is some useful information on dandelion. The roots can also be dried and powdered for medicinal uses. In the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia 1990 volume 1 (pg 38-39) dandelion root is understood as a hepatic stimulant i.e. it is a liver stimulant. You can also make tea with dandelion roots and there are so many health benefits from dandelions and lots more!

British Herbal Pharmacopoeia (1990) Volume 1, published by the British Herbal Medicine Association 
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-dandelion.html 
http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail92.php

Jack by the hedge pesto with cream cheese

Jack pesto with cream cheese


It's free...it's delicious...and it is everywhere at the moment.

© Fig.1.L.Moore 'Jack by the hedge pesto with cream cheese'

This is so versatile and can be used in a number of ways. It can be used in pasta to turn the ordinary into extraordinary.You can put it on toast with some cheese...yum, it can be added to a pot of lovely new potatoes, plonked on a cracker, added to your favorite sandwich and more. I love Jack by the hedge (or commonly called garlic mustard). Next time you go walking have a look around. At the moment there is a lot of it about and it is quite easy to recognize. If you think you have spotted crush the leaves between your fingers. You can't mistake the lovely garlic/mustard smell. Of course if in doubt then leave it out.

You will find this garlic mustard in field margins, road verges, hedges, river and stream banks, edges of woods and ditches. This is a native biennial. First year growth have long stalked cordate (heart shaped) leaves with regular saw-like teeth and a crinkly looking network of veins. The main stem that appears in the spring of the second year has paler green nettle like leaves. It grows tall and thin like nettles. The leaves have the distinct smell of garlic when crushed. Small white flowers (6 mm wide) appear in clusters from mid April;seed pods are long, up to 60 mm, and 2 - 3 mm thick curving out from the stem.

It is a slightly bitter plant and needs to be mixed with ingredients that accompany such as fatty meats and salt fish. However I love it mixed with a number of ingredients such as goats cheese and nettle pasta or pirogi, and/or mushroom and salmon pirogi...yum. My Polish friend taught me how to make pirogi and it's stunning in a lot of my recipes.

You can eat the leaves sparingly in salads and sandwiches, add to risottos and the flowers are also a delightful ingredient in garnishes salads. This is one of my favorite free wild edibles which you can't get in a supermarket. I have used the roots grated which is amazing and similar to horseradish mixed with yogurt and served with beef.You can even use the green seed pods as spices and use as you would as mustard seeds.

Get out and find Jack...you will be amazed and so proud of your find. Share the love with this stunning wild edible. When I first came across 'Jack' I can't tell you how liberating it was. I was taking a walk one day along a common pathway I use everyday. I looked down and thought 'that looks like Jack'. I gave it a crush between my fingers and got the unmistakable whiff. OMG I could not believe my luck. It was one of my first finds and I wanted to share it with the world. Yep I nearly shoved it up a strangers nose but I contained my excitement and shared it with my partners nose instead when I got home. Now I see it everywhere and I am sharing it with you.

If you have any 'Jack' recipes to share then please contact me I would love to hear about your experiments.

Jack pesto with cream cheese

1 handful of lightly toasted pine nuts
3 handfuls of Jack
3 cloves of garlic
1 handful of grated parmesan cheese
a few glugs of olive oil (to your taste and consistency)
black pepper
salt to taste
2 tbs lime juice
2-3 tablespoons of Philadelphia cheese (or any of your choice)

Place all ingredients into a bowl and blitz with your hand held blender or machine. It will keep longer in the fridge if you pour some olive oil over the top of it. Enjoy this with anything or as you would any pesto. I tried mine with pirogi filled with goats cheese and nettles and smoked salmon and mushroom pirogi. The photographs you see are taken when I tried this pesto with roasted butternut squash. For me the squash was too sweet with Jack but as with all my recipes you can experiment with this strong flavored pesto.

© Fig.2.L.Moore close up of Jack by the hedge

© Fig.3. L.Moore 'Jack pesto'

© Fig.4. L.Moore Pirogi with jack pesto  

 Source
Irving, M. (2009) The Forager Handbook: A Guide to the Edible Plants of Britain, Ebury Press,  pp, 76-77

© Fig.5. L.Moore an young Jack to scale with a ten pence piece 

    

Spicy Green Nettle Soup

Spicy Green Nettle Soup

Without doubt we have all heard of nettle soup but I'm guessing not many of us have tried it. I for one am guilty of this so I thought it was time to try it. I even managed to talk my partner into nettle hunting with me. What better way to bond as a couple than to go foraging (especially when your other half is no way as near interested as you are about foraging). So together we had our carrier bags, hardy gardening gloves (for the sting), camera and scissors. We had fun comparing notes and looking for the best crop of nettles. We found some dead nettles and some stinging nettles on a walking path near our home. The location is popular with dog walkers so try and pick those as far away from the 'dog leg arching' as possible and give them a good wash in tepid water and a bit of salt.

I enjoyed identifying some other edible weeds on the way which created a great discussion for us. Hey I was even taken to a location not too far from us to identify a horseradish my partner had seen a few days earlier (so he does listen LOL). My constant chatter about edible weeds and plants has rubbed off on him. Anyway it wasn't a horseradish but I did appreciate the observation and interest so for that a gold star for my man.

We found an abundant amount of both stinging and dead nettles. We only picked the young leave tops as they are apparently nicer to eat. I should own up at this point that my partner was allocated to gather the nettles whilst I gathered and dug up some dandelion roots and leaves which I will discuss in another post. However we had a really pleasant morning discussing weeds and how we were going to make a fab nettle soup which neither of us had ever had. With almost a bag full of nettles the rain began to descend on us and we headed home.  

My partner looked up some recipes and he settled on Hugh Fearnley's nettle soup recipe from the TV series River Cottage. So I adapted his recipe to create and make an amazing super soup with a punch.

Fig. 1. L. Moore Spicy Green Nettle Soup 

Fig.2. L. Moore A detail of Spicy Green Nettle Soup 

Fig.3. L.Moore. Ready to Eat Spicy Green Nettle Soup ... Yum!

Ingredients (for about 4 people ... though we had it between us)

1 tbs butter (or coconut oil)
1 nearly full carrier bag of nettles
1 large onion
1 large carrot
1 large potato
Parmesan cheese for grating
A half to a litre of vegetable stock (or chicken). The amount depends on how thick you like your soup so I add half and then top up until I have the desired thickness
Season with salt and pepper
3 small dried red chillies (optional as we love chillies)
3 cloves of garlic (optional as we love garlic)
Creme fraiche
Olive oil

Method

Wash your nettles in a sink of tepid water (wear gloves) and then put in colander and rinse again
Melt butter/coconut oil in a large pan
Add your finely chopped onions and garlic and chillies and cook until nice and soft
Add your chopped carrots and potato and stir. Then add half a litre of stock and simmer with lid on for ten mins.
Then add your nettles and simmer with lid on for 5 or 10 mins until vegetables are just soft.
See if you need more stock and if you do add more and stir. When ready turn off the heat.
Then blitz with a blender until smooth
Add seasoning
Pour into your lovely bowls and add some creme fraiche, and top with  grated Parmesan and a glug of olive oil.

Hey presto slurp it down with a good home made bread ... yum.


Some information on nettles

The stinging nettle is a course upright perennial, covered in fine hairs and their leaves are toothed and heart shaped. They are packed with high levels of vitamin A and C, and also contain iron and protein. The dead nettle is very similar to stinging only they don't sting when touched. Their leaves are in pairs, triangular , pointed and coarsely toothed.

Sources
https://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/nettle-soup
Richard Mabey (2012) Food For Free Harper Collins Publishers, London. p, 63 &104

Nettle & Jack (garlic mustard) Salsa Verde

Nettle & Jack (garlic mustard) Salsa Verde

Wow what a way to use your fresh foraged wild green weeds than to make a salsa verde. This certainly does live up to it's name (green sauce). This is packed with a punch of vitamins. When I was eating this I felt like I was taken back in time during my ancestral period but without the trimmings. The colour takes your breath away ... it is very dense and moss like. "Stinging nettles are one of the best plants for human health, both as food and medicine ... a complete, ready-packaged natural vitamin and mineral supplement" (Bruton - Seal J & Seal, M, 2008, p 114). We can find stinging nettles everywhere in out hedgerows packed with protein, calcium, vitamin c, beta-carotene and chlorophyll.

Jack by the hedge known as garlic mustard or (Alliaria petiolata) is found in shady hedgerows and woodland edges and it contains glucosinolates and apigenin flavonoids, both known to have anti-tumour effects and high in vitamin A. "The leaves also contain cancer preventing chemicals typical of both garlics (allyl sulphides) and mustards (isothiocyanates)" (Irving, M. 2009, p 77).

So no wonder this green sauce is such a winner. I would experiment with this recipe as I have based it on my own palette where I like a lot of garlic and chilli and the anchovies add a strong salty taste. I made this to go with my salmon steak with a wild mushroom risotto. You may decide to omit some ingredients and add more olive oil and make it more fluid. However I would always  recommend experimenting with my recipes to make them to your own liking. I see my recipes as a starting point to explore wild foods and alter them to your own taste buds. It is the sheer  'act' of gathering these wild weeds that makes this such a wonderful experience and journey of discovery.

Get yourself outdoors on a brisk January day and experience the thrill of looking, finding and exploring. It really is worth it. I forget myself when I am absorbed in looking for these weeds. I feel a real balance between mind and body in a state of complete absorption, it's a great feeling ... . so go and try it. As I have said in all my blogs 'if in doubt leave it out'.

When your new to foraging always make sure you know what you have and check it with diagrams and pictures and a number of sources (not just the internet) and having another pair of eyes to help you identify your find is always useful so bring someone with you. It is fun doing the research and when you feel sure always try a little first. Tasting small amounts is always wise just in case you don't agree with it. Remember you have never eaten these foods before.

Fig 1. L. Moore Nettle & Jack Salsa Verde 

Fig. 2. L. Moore. Nettles washed and ready for simmering

Fig.3. L.Moore. A detail of Salsa Verde topped with Jack leaf

                                      Fig.4. Salmon Fillet with Nettle/Jack Verde & wild mushroom risotto                          

Ingredients

Half a carrier bag of stinging nettle tops (or non stinging nettles)
1 cup of jack by the hedge
3-4 anchovies
6-8 cloves of garlic
2 tbs mascapone soft cheese
2 tbs (or handfuls) of pine nuts
2 tbs olive oil
2 small dried red chillies
1 tbs lime juice (or lemon)
salt and black pepper to taste

• Wash the nettles in lukewarm water and salt and strain (then rinse again to get rid of the salt)
• Boil the nettles for approx 3 mins until soft and then plunge them into ice cold water
• When cool squeeze the water out of the nettles
• Add the squeeded nettles into a bowl with all the other ingredients and blitz with a blender
• Put into a nice bowl and add a glug of olive oil on top and serve

Ta dah its ready (it should keep in the fridge for a couple of days)

I really enjoyed mine with my salmon steak however it did feel a bit thick for me so next time I would add more olive oil and perhaps think about roasting my garlic in the oven first and then squeeze this sweet garlic into my Verde and then blitz. I will also be trying pure Jack by the hedge (garlic mustard) salsa verde... yum.

References

Bruton-Seal, J & Seal, M. (2008) Hedgerow Medicine: Harvest and Make Your Own Herbal Remedies, Merlin Unwin Books  Ltd, London. p, 114.
Irving, M. (2009) The Forager Handbook: A Guide To The Edible Plants Of Britain, Ebury Press Publishing, p, 77.