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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Easy Steamed Wild Greens

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How to steam wild leafy greens recipeA question I get alot is “How do you cook wild greens?”. There’s tons of great recipes and techniques, but sometimes all I want is just a simple serving of tasty plants as a side dish, especially during the spring and early summer when all the wild greens are calling me, and I need to consume mass quantities.

Boiled and blanched greens I like perfectly fine, and I love fried greens, but sometimes they can get heavy from the added fat (which there is nothing wrong with). One of the most trusty ways I serve them, and have been served by other plant lovers, is simply steamed. There’s plenty of ways to go about it, but my favorite is the simplest I know: steamed wild greens, and you don’t even need a steamer basket.

All you really need are some fresh greens (watercress is pictured here) a glug of water, a fat of your choice, like butter, olive oil, etc, and some salt. Lemon or vinegar if you like. The more important thing is your pot–not pan. You want something with relatively tall sides. Greens lose a ton of volume as they cook, so in order to get a good juicy serving you’ll need something that can hold about a gallon or two–a pasta pot is fine. Oh, and a lid, and as you can see, I use the term lid loosely–whatever you can scrounge up to hold in the steam is fine.

How to steam wild leafy greens recipe

All you need is a tall-ish pot, greens, and a “lid”.

After all your plants taste good to you, which will vary a bit depending on what you’re making, you drain off any cooking liquid, and, drumroll…..quickly stir them with fat and salt to taste, and serve. Now most of the time people think of steamed food, they think unseasoned, but it just isn’t so. Trust me, seasoning your greens before you serve them is the difference between people ingesting them, and gushing, over a simple pile of greens.

Greens I like to Steam

I don’t steam all the plants, but most of them I do. My preference is to steam tender, young, sweet greens, things like watercress, sochan, nettles, amaranth, lambsqaurters, waterleaf, violets, mallow, galinsoga, etc. The key word there being young, as they don’t need extended cooking. The greens I don’t often steam are the bitter or strong tasting ones, things like horseradish leaves, dandelions, garlic mustard, and other wild mustard greens. Preferences vary person to person, but if you have a family or significant other you’re trying to convice to eat bitter greens, I suggest blanching them in boiling salted water (1 tablespoon of salt per quart) since bitter flavors in greens are water-soluble, and it can help tame them. Steamed greens cook in just their own pure juices, and if their juices are bitter, you get the idea.

Expect Variation

Besides flavor each plant also cooks differently, and can continue to do so throughout the season as they grow. For example, I like to cook sochan shoots for literally seconds just until they wilt, but during the fall or late summer I might cook the mature leaves for much longer. Dandelions are pretty tough, and can take a hammering before the start to get tender. Garlic mustard can fall apart to mush in a few minutes. Expect variation–this is one of those instinct things, and a learned skill.

How to steam wild leafy greens recipe
Fill the pot!
How to steam wild leafy greens recipe
Add a good splash of water and put on the lid.
How to steam wild leafy greens recipe
Steam and mix the greens around after a minute to distribute heat, then cook until tender.
How to steam wild leafy greens recipe
Eat.
How to steam wild leafy greens recipe
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Quick Steamed Watercress

The most basic way I use to cook fresh, mild-tasting greens like watercress
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Steaming, Wild greens

Equipment

  • 1 gallon sized pot with lid or another pot with tall sides

Ingredients

  • Fresh wild greens enough to completely fill your pot, about 8 ounces
  • Salt
  • Your choice of fat like butter lard, or your favorite oil
  • Fresh lemon juice or vinegar to taste

Instructions

  • Wash the greens, looking them over for bugs, debris, leaves, or other foreign objects, then dry them well, preferably in a small salad spinner.
  • Put a film of water in the bottom of the pot, add the greens—I like to add them until they completely fill the pot--sometimes I add them in batches if I need to feed a lot of people. . Put the lid on the pot, and turn the heat to medium-high and wait a few minutes until the pan gets very hot.
  • Take the lid off and using tongs, vigorously stir the greens around in a circular motion for moment or two to distribute the heat, then put the lid back on and cook for another minute or two, and repeat until the greens are wilted.
  • Now taste the greens and judge their tenderness, if they need a little more time, continue cooking, and add a splashes of water if needed to keep it juicy. Keep cooking and tasting the greens--young ones will cook fast, mature leaves could take 15 minutes or more.
  • When the greens are cooked and taste good to you, turn the heat off. There should be a very small amount of water in the bottom of the pan--drain that off.
  • Drizzle a little fat of your choice and salt to taste then, mix very well in a circular motion to distribute everything, taste again, adjust as needed, then serve, with lemon or dashes of vinegar if you like.

More Greens

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
Host: Field Forest Feast 👇
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Alan Bergo
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
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