Midsummer means a lot of things, but heat and garden weeds are probably two that many of us are familiar with right now. A few weeks ago, there was a dinner on the farm I was going to contribute a dish too, and, as my partner’s family is proud of their Greek heritage, I thought…
Leafy Greens | Recipes
Milkweed Bud Huazontles
Huazontles (What-Zohnt-Lays). The word just sounds interesting. The name is dense, filled with far more than you’d expect from a word used to describe what’s basically a rustic plant dumpling stuffed with cheese. The name huazontle itself is an ancient one, derived from the Indigenous South American Nahuatl language, meaning it pre-dates Spanish colonization, by…
Lamb’s Quarter Dip (Borani Esfenaj)
Here in the Midwest we just went through a brutal heatwave pushing triple digits, so cold food has been on regular rotation. This dip made from Lamb’s Quarters has been on repeat for a while. Back in the Spring when I shared my now absolute favorite way to cook nettles, a commenter mentioned that the…
Nettle Frittata Richard Olney
I love a good frittata, but there’s something to be said about the good, the ok, and the bad. Overcooked, egg pies (as I would call for them on the line) are dry and crumbly. Undercooked they weep undercooked egg and are unappetizing. With too many ingredients, they’ll fall apart, and with too few ingredients,…
Sochan with Potatoes and Venison Bacon (Bottom Greens)
One of the best parts of this website is getting to interact with the people who come to visit. I read every comment and try to sit down for a few minutes every day to reply to them. Sometimes people send in recipes or comment on things that are really helpful, and Sochan with Potatoes…
Wild Greens with Walnut Sauce
As I was cooking with my Virginia Bluebells this year, I started looking around in my library for recipes specifically calling for borage greens, since Virginia Bluebells are in the Boraginaceae. Borage has been cooked in the Mediterranean for a very long time, but I also found different recipes from Eastern Europe like Georgia, as…
Japanese-Style Violet Greens Salad (Gomae)
Violet flowers are pretty, but I enjoy violet greens much more than the flowers. Here and there you might see some people saying they put a few violet leaves in a salad, and that can be ok, but just ok. Violet greens, unless harvested very young, are often pretty tough, which is why most of…
Spring Nettle Crepes
Spring nettle crepes are a good example of the sort of seasonal cuisine I used to serve at Lucias restaurant for brunch during spring. The basic idea is this: make some green crepes with common stinging nettles in the batter, fill them with more cooked nettles, a few ramp leaves, goat cheese or ricotta, fold…
Nettle Soup with Ham from Extramadura
I’ve been in love with researching traditional uses of nettles around the world, and soup is one of the standbys that seem to be omnipresent wherever nettles are eaten. This delicious Spanish nettle soup scented with Jamon Serrano and thickened with cornmeal is a bit different than others I’ve come across, and can make for…
Turkish Nettles (Isirgan Buğulaması)
Today, I have for you one of the best recipes for nettles I’ve tasted to date. Turkish nettles? Oh yes. I’m unsure of the exact species of nettle that might be cooked in the Middle East, as there’s a number of nettle genera eaten around the world, like the giant Nepali nettle (Girardinia diversifolia which,…
Italian Nettle Breadcrumb Gnocchi
Deep green nettle gnocchi are a great way to celebrate spring. Unlike typical gnocchi you’re probably familiar with, these are a rustic, peasant gnocchi that (gasp!) include no potato, or flour in the dough. There’s a number of different specific pasta names that you could use to refer to them, malfatti could work, although sometimes…
Lebanese Dandelions with Caramelized Onions (Hindbeh)
If you were to order them on a menu, Hindbeh, Hindiba, or Hindbeh b’Zeit will all probably arrive at your table looking like the same thing: a bowl of cooked dandelions with caramelized onions. Or maybe it’s wild chicory with fried onions? Whatever you call it, you’re in for a treat. If you crave the…
Hedgehog Mushroom Soup with Beans, Watercress and Tomato
I love hedgehog mushrooms (especially the giant ones) but during the off-season here in Minnesota I sometimes cook with the smaller Hydnum umbillicatum that are sold commercially out of the PNW during our winter when I have a craving for fresh mushrooms. Hedgehogs are great in just about anything you’d add them to, but I love…