Pumpkin and Puha
A secret edible world exists all around us, a superfood market at your doorstep, free food begging for attention, popping up ‘between the cracks’ and anywhere they can take root. The edible weeds adventure is a perfect way to begin your foraging story, tried and true they will not disappoint. Edible weeds are everywhere. From Dock to clover, to dandelion to sow thistle, there is an A –Z almost of edible greens. My roots are that of women who knew the wild resource of edible greens, my Greek ancestors bent down and scooped up handfuls of nutritious free wild greens into their baskets just as I do today, it's often as I execute these repeated movements when foraging I get tingles down my spine, I feel deeply connected by those moments to the people before me who harvested the “horta”, or processed “bonyi” or whatever maybe the bounty of the day. Horta in Greek means “wild greens” and they were simply served wilted with olive oil and lemon juice (the vitamin c helps the body absorb the iron in the greens) I've read that horta tastes even better if you collect your weeds in the cooler weather. You’d be lucky to catch a glimpse of a group of women collecting an assortment of greens by the roadside these days but since ancient times it has been a staple to many cultures, a failsafe if the crops couldn’t provide, and a source of medicine. Collecting and eating these foods connects me to my heritage and to country. It’s the most wonderful thing about foraging, the magic of how it works on you, taking you outside and into the sunlight, making you physically active, giving you nutrition but also food for the soul. This is about using what's available to you, sourcing your foods so you know where they come from, and capturing a wild resource and starting to reclaim wild foods and yummy, edible, convenient, highly nutritious and most importantly safe. For the following recipe you'll be able to substitute the greens for what every you can find growing round you, currently we are in the middle of our summer so greens like dock may not be as abundant as in the cooler months, use the seasons as your guide and let the food tell you what it wants to be. I always teach people in my workshops about touching the greens and getting a feel for them, as I rub a fresh tender nasturtium leaf I know its destined for salad, alternatively when I bend down near the Cobaki creek next to a curly dock plant these leaves are thicker and more robust, they tell me they are up to the task of being cooked or included in my spanakopita or weedy pumpkin bake. The list of edible weedy greens is exhaustive, a quick google search or a post to Forage and Grow Facebook page to confirm the identity of your plants before proceeding is best practice for beginners. It's also important to note that picking the youngest, most tender leaves of your weeds will always yield better results in your recipes. Please also take notice of the enviroment you are collecting from, avoid areas that have been sprayed with herbicide/pesticides as always.
My top ten tips for edible weed use
1. Confirm the ID of your plant or mushroom - this can be done online in our forage and grow NSW group on Facebook, we have several botanists and mycologist in the group. Or via a reference book. Always double check your ID. Even experienced foragers can make mistakes.
2. Make sure the location and environment are suitable – this is not only about considering environmental toxins, water source, potential contamination. But looking to see what the patch has sustained lately, is the area recovering from fire or floods? Is the plant established enough for you to take from, and still consider the health and wellbeing of the plant itself and the fauna that feeds from it? Is it a National Park or other area where foraging is prohibited? Conservation depends on naturalists and citizen scientists being careful, conservation of rare species is vital for the science work to be done in the future. Many of our plants fungi and insects are currently unnamed.
3. Pay your respects- Simply and lovingly express your gratitude. Bring an awareness plants and fungi and sacred. And that the lands you step on were traveled by many before you. The way we do this will look different for everyone.
4. Get in touch with the plant – Once you are certain about ID its time to get up close and personal with the leaves. Let the food tell you what it wants to be. I cook and collect my food very intuitively and I always teach people in my workshops about touching the greens and getting a feel for them, as I rub a fresh tender nasturtium leaf I know its destined for salad, alternatively when I bend down near the Cobaki creek next to a curly dock plant these leaves are thicker and more robust, they tell me they are up to the task of being cooked or included in my spanakopita or weedy pumpkin bake.
5. Harvest the young tender leaves and avoid woody stems – With edible weeds for greens it's best to harvest in the cooler part of the day; morning or evening is perfect. pick the leaf from the woody stems and discard stems in compost or otherwise. The texture of the leaves themselves will be greatly improved by this step.
6. Pick leaves before flowering - When selecting which plants to harvest, look for new plants that haven't run to flower or seed yet, they will taste much sweeter and milder.
7. Only take what you need – this is a rule of thumb for foragers. It's part of the gratitude and honoring of nature and her cycles. And we always leave enough for the birds and the Bees.
8. prepare properly - it's important to do your own research and become familiar with the preparation technique. Always wash, trim and select the best leaves for your dish. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil and blanche your greens for a few minutes. This removes some oxalic acid from the leaves, and it is the recommended way to prepare wild greens for cooking. ( it's great to remember here that foods you eat everyday contain oxalic acid like berries, tea, coffee and chocolate to name a few) Drain, and your horta is now ready to use in any recipe you'd like, palak paneer, spanakopita, anywhere you would use spinach.
9. Make it an adventure have fun- Foraging is such a life affirming positive activity! Its family friendly, children are amazing at pattern recognition, and their intelligence shouldn’t be underestimated, one of my good mum friends even made a card game of edible weeds to involve and engage her children.
10. Consider using the flowers of the plant - A lot of the time if the leaves are edible, so are the flowers! So, if you find a specimen that has already gone to flower perhaps you could add the flowers to your salad, quiche or garnish. I love using edible flowers, it’s magical to create dishes that look as good as they taste.
Pumpkin harvest from my weedy garden. Stuffed pumpkin and puha. Sow Thistle plants (Sonchus oleraceus)
My mother's contribution to the #eattheweeds movement came long before the hashtag. Remincient of her own heritage, is her dish Weedy Pumkin bake. Always a winner, this is a weeknight weedy addition to a family dinner, but also shines as the star of a vegetarian/Weedgan Lunch. (My version of edible weeds vegan dish) Super-duper simple to create. My mother would whip this together in no time, when I make it now for retreat or workshop guests it impresses, simple, fresh, vibrant, and cheesy. This will get scrawled into your recipe book at home for future weedy seeds to sow.
When I went to the yard today to start to forage my horta for this dish I noticed some big Sow Thistle plants (Sonchus oleraceus) and quite a few healthy-looking dandelion plants (Taraxacum officinale) I decided to use these today but again be guided by what weeds to use by what is at hand for you. A mixture of weedy greens quickly fills the basket. I grew up in New Zealand and we share a lot of our weedy species with Oz, and in Aotearoa we call sow thistle puha and it's prized for how it compliments pork and its medicinal qualities. Dandelion is a bitter herb that is a tonic for the liver and highly prized and cultivated for all parts of the plant around the world. We have two awesome team players here, and to boost my harvest I supplemented with some sweet potato leaves from my veg garden today. Wash, trim and select the best leaves for your dish. You'll need around 6-8 handfuls uncooked. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil and blanche your greens for a few minutes. This removes some oxalic acid from the leaves, and it is the recommended way to prepare for cooking. ( it's great to remember here that foods you eat everyday contain oxalic acid like berries, tea, coffee and chocolate to name a few) Drain, and your horta is now ready to use in any recipe you'd like, palak paneer, spanakopita, anywhere you use cooked spinach. The best free spinach ever! I've loved using edible weeds to colour homemade pasta and for my palak paneer both these recipe's are on my blog about Meet the Dock -tor - Rumex Species. The creamy sweet flavors of the mashed pumpkin in this dish compliments the bitterness of the wild greens perfectly. And the cheesy baked topping will convert anyone to the weedy life. If you want to turn someone onto weeds or change their mind, go right ahead and make my mother’s weedy pumpkin bake.
Notes: Mum’s OG recipe calls for and cannot exclude sweet Hungarian paprika on the top if the cheese layer.
Replace cheese for vegan cheese or make a crunchy seed and nut and sourdough breadcrumb topping for weedgan version.
PUMPKIN AND PUHA
My Mum’s Pumpkin and Puha bake
Prep time – including foraging 30 mins
Cooking time 20 mins
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1-2 cups prepared cooked wild edible weeds (see above for method. In my top 10 tips for edible weeds)
600-800g pumpkin, peeled, and chopped into even pieces ( keep your seeds to grow more pumpkins – it's so easy and you can eat the leaves too)
2 Tbsp salted Butter
Salt and pepper to taste
200g tasty cheese, grated.
Sprinkle of sweet Hungarian paprika.
Method
Prepare greens as above.
Peel, chop and add pumpkin to a medium saucepan, add minimal amount of cold-water cover. Cook on high, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer till just tender.
Remove pumpkin from the heat and drain well.
Mash pumpkin with butter and salt and pepper
Stir in the wild greens into the mashed pumpkin.
Place in a deep baking dish
Grate cheese, and sprinkle to cover the top entirely.
Take pinches of the paprika and sprinkle over the cheese or weedgan topping option.
Bake in a preheated at 180C or 160C fan forced for 20 mins or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
Foraging forever x
Chanterelle