Dining on Dandelions
A few summers ago I was up at Desolation Sound, anchored in Melany Cove on a beautiful summer evening, surveying my stock of canned vegetables and wishing for something fresh and green to eat with the oysters my partner had cooking on the barbeque. After two weeks on the boat we were out of fresh produce and our small freezer does not have room for frozen vegetables. We had harvested the oysters from our dinghy on the way back from an afternoon hike and as I pondered my paltry vegetable selection, I remembered all the plants we had seen on our walk and wondered if any of them were edible.
The problem was that even if there had been good foraging opportunity, my ability to identify any of the plant life we had seen was woefully inadequate. As I reluctantly decided on a tin of green beans, I made the decision to overcome my ignorance. Back in the city I hit the library and discovered Northwest Foraging by Doug Benoliel, which listed more than fifty edible wild plants. Although the drawings in this book were quite helpful, and I made a point out of practising my developing identification skills, I was nervous about accidentally poisoning my friends and family. However, I managed to identify sea asparagus on my next cruising holiday and with just a little trepidation fried it up for dinner, with unsalted butter and garlic. My partner looked a little askance, but took a bite (albeit only after I did) and we both enjoyed it.
But my nervousness persisted and I decided I needed some help. With a little internet surfing I found a workshop on edible wilds at Mayo Creek Gardens, near Cowichan Lake. We arrived on the appointed Saturday and workshop leader and owner Ingeborg, met us at the door of her house and started our foraging education at her dining room table over a cup of nettle tea. Her opening gambit confirmed that my partner and I were right to seek a little education before blindly harvesting. Her credentials were impressive, not just for foraging edible plants but also as mycologist. In fact, she said, as she sipped her nettle tea, the coroner had phoned her more than once to help identify stomach contents of mushroom pickers who had come to a sorry end.
And so we come to the first rule of foraging. Never eat any plant unless you can identify it 100%! The second rule is to be mindful of where you harvest: avoid roadsides with any vehicular traffic and of course, stay off of private property. The good news is that with education and practise you can learn to identify edible greens and over time build up a foraging repertoire.
Dandelions and Stinging Nettles
The best way to begin foraging is to look for edible plants that are the easiest to identify. Dandelion and stinging nettles fit the bill although even with these two well-known species you need to be sure you have picked the right plant.
There are lots of great things about dandelion aside from the fact that most people ar familiar with them. They are easiest to identify when they are flowering as there are other plants that have similar-shaped leaves. But once you have found them, pick away as there is a myriad of ways to prepare the leaves (as well as the roots and flowers but that is fodder for another article).
Stinging nettles have been harvested for centuries in various parts of the world for a variety of reasons other than culinary. They have been used for medicinal purposes and the fibres have been used to create cloth and twine.
Stinging nettles can also be confused with other plants but if you are unsure, touch a stem with a baby finger and feel the sting. It may remain mildly uncomfortable for a couple of hours but you’ll know for sure you have found the right plant! Once you have identified a patch, pick the plants wearing rubber gloves. The sting is eliminated by boiling the leaves.
Dandelion Pasta Sauce with Cannellini Beans and Tomato
Dandelions are a slightly bitter green, particularly larger and older leaves. It is best to pick the younger leaves but you can use older and larger leaves in this recipe if you remove the stem from the middle of the leaves when you are chopping them as it is fibrous and does not break down enough in the cooking process. This recipe is an adaptation of the original which called for escarole, a slightly bitter green. Most of the ingredients in this recipe use stock items I keep on board as everything except the parmesan does not require refrigeration.
Ingredients
- 10 oz dried white cannellini beans cooked and drained (reserve the cooking liquid)
- ¾ cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp dried sage
- ¾ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ tsp dried red chillies
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups packed dandelion leaves
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 cup tinned tomatoes and juice
- 1 lb fusili pasta
- freshly grated parmesan
- pinch of sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Saute onion and garlic in olive oil.
- Add dandelion leaves and cook until wilted.
- Add white wine and simmer for three minutes.
- In a blender or food processor (I use a Braun hand-held xx), puree 1 ½ cups of the cooked beans with 2 cups of the reserved cooking liquid.
- Add ¾ cup whole beans and ½ cup of the pureed beans plus 1 cup of the reserved liquid to the pot.
- Add the tomatoes and tomato juice.
- Simmer the sauce uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Cook the pasta in salted water.
- Toss pasta in sauce and serve with grated parmesan
Serves four
Stinging Nettle Spanakopita
The leaves of stinging nettles can be used in most recipes that call for cooked spinach. I have made spanakopita with them a number of times as most people love it and it is a great way to convince any sceptics that nettles are delicious. The recipe is more elaborate than the pasta recipe above as it requires some planning – you need to have frozen phyllo pastry on board. If you do not have a freezer on your boat, you can buy frozen phyllo pastry and leave it in the fridge for up to a week before you use it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped nettle leaves, packed
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 3 greens onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 6 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 eggs, beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 6 sheets phyllo
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Wearing rubber gloves, wash the nettle leaves thoroughly in a colander. Drain and cook in salted boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on size and age of leaves. Smaller, younger leaves require less boiling time. Squeeze out the excess water and reserve.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté onion, nettle and dill. Take off the heat and let cool.
- Combine the cooked onion and nettle mixture with eggs, feta cheese and salt and pepper.
- Work with one sheet of phyllo pastry at a time. Wrap the rest of the phyllo in a damp tea towel.
- Place the phyllo sheet in front of you vertically. Cut the sheet into five long strips.
- Working with one strip at a time, brush the strip with melted butter. Cover the strip with a second one and butter it again.
- Place a spoon of filling the bottom corner of the strip. Pick up a bottom corner of the strip and fold it over in half diagonally so that it creates a triangle. Continue folding over into triangular shape until you reach the end of the strip.
- Repeat with the remaining strips.
- Brush the completed spanakopita triangles with butter. Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden, approximately 15 minutes.
Resources
Plants of Coastal British Columbia, Pojar and MacKinnon.
This is the book I use the most in identifying plants. It covers more than edible plants but in most instances mentions if a plant is edible. It also talks about how plants were used by early settlers and aboriginal groups which makes for some interesting reading.
Mayo Creek Gardens
Ingeborg is entertaining as well as a talented educator. We arranged for our workshop as a private session for ourselves and a few friends. Ingeborg has a minivan that holds six passengers and is willing to meet at the Cowichan Bay Marina for a “Menu from the Woods” workshop if you are interested in making a daytrip while out cruising in the area.
Northwest Foraging