Forays into Foraging

Rice noodle "salad" with vegetarian chorizo and chickweed.

Returning to the blog with food porn - eating the weeds from the planters.

I was introduced by my friend E to @green_thyme recently when E posted that a lot of the edible wild plants featured by @green_thyme were growing in her own lawn, and she was going to give a wild greens pesto recipe a try.

So, the other day, @green_thyme featured chickweed, among other "weeds," and I realized it looked familiar. Upon closer inspection of my planter containing the maples, there it was, in abundance. I Googled to confirm it was, in fact, chickweed, took a little nibble, did not die or get sick, Googled some recipes, and, emboldened, decided to go all in with a harvest...

Tasty weeds.

Now, I have been following @66squarefeet for years, and so gradually have become accustomed to her forages (though, really, I follow her mainly for the small space/container gardening aspects of her blog). Born and bred city girl that I am, foraging and wild foods have not been in my wheelhouse. Mother Hen, my gardening mentor, also was born and raised and has lived all her life in cities, so there was no foraging in her upbringing to pass on to me. Gardening for her came of necessity when she arrived in the United States and could not find the fresh herbs that are so essential to Vietnamese cuisine. In New York City, she began with pots on the windowsills of our first apartment when she was able to get seeds from friends - everyone had to grow their own if they wanted herbs Vietnamese herbs in those early days. And when Mama Hen and Papa Rooster finally got a house with a yard, Mama Hen's inner gardener finally had a canvas with which to work. So my green thumb was trained in the world of domesticated and cultivated plants. Wild edibles are new and strange and still somewhat scary.

Wild edibles aplenty.

So harvesting the chickweed, which in past years I cut down and mulched in place to make room for edible plants (ha!), is a new step. I decided on  Vietnamese style rice noodle "salad" topped with vegetarian chorizo. Happily, my hodge podge, multicultural dinner was DELICIOUS! I am now sold on the chickweed! Thanks to E for the encouragement, and @green_thyme and @66squarefeet for the inspiration, information and tips!

[Edited April 24, 2021.]